


A Big Mistake

by CatiiaSofiia, MissChrisDaae



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artificial Insemination, Belligerent Sexual Tension, F/M, Gen, Getting Back Together, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Inspired by Jane the Virgin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatiiaSofiia/pseuds/CatiiaSofiia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChrisDaae/pseuds/MissChrisDaae
Summary: Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Naberrie are both single. Both successful, one heading a major new tech company and the other the Mayor of New York City. And both of them have decided they want to become parents, seeking out Coruscant Family Services to start their journey into parenthood alone.Instead, they're going to have to face it together. And that's the last thing either of them wants.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 102
Kudos: 197





	1. The Catalogs

Friday night and Lightspeed’s offices had a party raging since four. It was close to midnight. Clearly, the team was in celebration mode, encouraged by their CEO. They had just closed the day with a very profitable product launch that had been three years in the making and everyone was relieved and taking advantage of the open bar.

On the balcony, however, their CEO observed the vibrating energy inside, hearing the laughter and half-drunken toasts being made. He loved seeing his people having so much fun, enjoying the company’s culture and success as much as he did.

“You should be inside! Kitster just started karaoke hour and he’s killing Britney Spears. Not like, in a good way, but in a really bad way. A way that should be forbidden!” He turned to see Ahsoka, a long-time friend, and his PR team leader, standing in the entrance on the balcony, her sequin dress making her look more grown-up than her twenty-two. She was wearing a colorful party hat and had a glass of champagne in her hand. “After all, you keep making history, Mr. Skywalker,” she teased, walking over to him and clicking her glass against his. “Instead, you’re out here. Brooding.”

“I’m not brooding,” he smiled, turning and leaning against the glass railing. “I’m contemplating my next step.”

“You know I love you, Skyguy, but just enjoy this launch. You have never been so profitable. You can think about your next baby on Monday, celebrate this one for now,” Ahsoka shook her head, amused. 

“It’s funny that you said that,” he chuckled and Ahsoka looked at him curiously. “Because I am going to have a baby.”

Ahsoka looked at him from head to toe. “Is this how you tell me you’re transitioning?”

“ _ Ahsoka!” _

“I’m sorry!” She snorted, laughing. “It’s that just… you’re out here telling me you have a baby and I look at you and see no uterus and no wife. Unless Miss Runaway comes back into your life and is ready to pop some Skybabies out. Or did you knock up someone? Oh my God, you knocked up someone, didn’t you? Anakin, you know how I hate working on the weekends, please don’t make me write up a statement while I’m hungover.”

“Will you shut up and listen?” Anakin asked, exasperated. Ahsoka mimicked closing her mouth and throwing away the key and he rolled his eyes. “Amee and I are not back together, no. That chapter is closed. And no, I did not knock up someone. But I want to be a father. I want a baby. I decided to do it by surrogacy.”

“Oh, I did not see that coming,” Ahsoka frowned. “Are you sure? It’s a pretty big responsibility, Skyguy. You would be a single parent.”

“I know all about that, Snips, and I’m ready. I’ve wanted to be a father for as long as I can remember and… I can’t wait for the perfect woman to come along. Just like I make my dreams come true with Lightspeed, I can do this as well.”

“Like Cristiano Ronaldo did,” Ahsoka commented.

“Yes, he gave me some tips.”

“You know Cristiano Ronaldo?” Ahsoka gasped. “You jerk, you never introduced us.”

“You’re  _ gay,  _ Ahsoka.”

“I don't want to sleep with him, just get some soccer, I mean, _football_ tips!”

“We’re getting off-topic,” Anakin laughed, shaking his head. “Ahsoka, this is happening. I was waiting for this launch to happen to actually do the process, I wanted to see how this would go and it went better than expected, I can take my eyes off the business for a little while to focus on my personal plans.”

“How is it going to go?” Ahsoka asked. “Does Shmi know?”

“She was the first person I told, she knows. She supports me, even though she wished it was through the conventional way. The fact that she’ll be a grandmother helps,” he beamed, thinking of his mother’s unconditional support. “On Monday, Darra will stop by Coruscant Family Services to pick up the egg donor catalog they have been preparing according to my preferences. After we pick the donor, the agency will send me a few women to interview to choose who will be my surrogate. Then, after all is said and done, the magic happens.”

“You make it sound so easy, Skyguy.”

Anakin smiled. “Because it is. This is the moment of my life where I am comfortable with who I am. Where I am. I can be a single father and excel at it. I know that.”

“Well, if this is what you really want…”

“It is, Snips. It really is. This is the next baby I want to have. Lightspeed is already a raging teenager,” he laughed.

“Ah, she’s only eight, but wise beyond her ears,” Ahsoka quipped and he laughed. “Okay, Skyguy, let’s choose the perfect formula for those Skybabies of yours.”

“Thank you,” he hugged her and kissed her forehead. “I knew I could count on you.”

“Anytime! Now, let’s go and beat Kitster at karaoke.”

“Oh, anything to hear you rap, Snips.”

As he entered the party and mingled with his employees, his  _ friends,  _ Anakin couldn’t help but feel lucky. He had everything he had wanted for his career and while his personal life wasn’t exactly what he had dreamed of when he was younger, he didn’t mind. He was making it perfect and he couldn’t wait, he really couldn’t wait, to meet his child.

* * *

“Good morning, ma’am.”

“Good morning, Rabé.” Padmé accepted her coffee from her assistant as she climbed into the car. “Thank you. I have an errand for you this morning after we get to work.”

“Please tell me it’s not a citywide crisis of some kind, ma’am.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Padmé laughed. “I need you to make a run to Coruscant Family Services and get me a hard copy of their donor catalog.”

“Couldn’t you just get it emailed, ma’am?”

“I am not running the risk of an email getting hacked or leaked to the press. This is going to be difficult enough when the news breaks naturally.”

“I will get it for you, ma’am,” Rabé said. “Could we do a quick calendar check? To confirm all of your meetings today,” she asked as she prepared her tablet.

“Public appearances at Theed Charter School and Valorum Memorial Hospital, meeting with the transit committee, and some legislation reviews,” Padmé ticked off on her fingers. “Did I miss anything?”

“No, you did block part of your afternoon so you could analyze… the catalogs,” Rabé chuckled.

“I am nothing if not a planner.”

“Anything you need from me now?” Rabé asked.

“Nothing beyond the usual,” Padmé said as the car made its way down FDR Drive. “Let’s just go over my talking points for the hospital, that’s first, right?”

“It’s very much the same as other speeches you made. However, they did receive a hefty donation from a tech company in order to fund a pediatrician wing. So it would be nice to mention the gesture and emphasize how it will help the community, especially since it will have special access conditions to the less-favored families.”

“Which company was it?” Padmé asked, surprised Rabé hadn’t already said. “Someone in trouble with Congress, trying to get good PR?”

“Far from it,” Rabé chewed on the inside of her cheek. “It was Lightspeed.”

“I see.” Padmé nodded slowly. “And is Lightspeed sending a representative to appear in tandem with me?”

“They had a small event a couple of days ago, it was very private and transmitted only through the company’s live-streaming app,” Rabé pointed out. “Next year, however, I think you might have to make a small appearance with the uh, CEO.”

“That’s an issue for much later on the docket. And not relevant to the agenda for today. I’ll thank you not to bring it up again, Rabé.”

“Yes, well, I had to tell you about the donation, it is important for the hospital, after all. They had issues before, a lot of sick children, not enough beds, and not enough support for struggling families in the community. You need to acknowledge it. It’s important to,” Rabé cringed internally.

“I meant the appearance with their CEO.”

“Of course. It’s next year’s subject.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

“I can’t say I’m entirely happy about this, Ani.”

“Can you be happy that you’re going to be a grandma?” Anakin sighed as he passed another donor’s profile of the catalog he was given by Coruscant Family Services.”

“I  _ am  _ happy about that, honey, I’m just a little disappointed that you’re not doing this the old-fashioned way. You have so much love to give,” his mother pointed out, “it feels like a shame for you not to have a wife, or a girlfriend to share this with.”

“I will give all my love to my baby. My daughter or my son. I don’t need a needy wife or a girlfriend that just likes the view from my penthouse. I am giving my unconditional love to those who deserve it,” Anakin scowled. “What about this donor? An Ivy League graduate. That has to be good DNA.”

“Is that just a prerequisite for you?” Ahsoka asked teasingly as she shifted through a few profiles in her own pile. “Along with being dark-eyed and brunette?”

“The catalog is not  _ just  _ dark-eyed and brunettes,” Anakin brushed her comment off and placed the profile in the ‘acceptable’ pile he was putting together.

“No, those are just the ones you seem to like the most. This one went to Smith, that’s basically Ivy League. Or would you prefer a  _ Harvard  _ girl?”

Anakin glared at the younger woman. “All profiles that went to Harvard are a clear and flat ‘no’. And see,” he waved a profile in his hand. “This young woman is blonde, blue-eyed, and went to Columbia. I like her,” he slapped the profile in the ‘acceptable’ pile to make his point, even if he was not going to go with her at all. He admitted. He had a type. But Ahsoka didn’t have to rub it in his face. “We could have cute, blonde babies,” he added, unconvinced.

His mother didn’t say anything, just quietly placed a few of her own choices in the ‘acceptable’ pile.

“Mom, can you stop being disappointed?” Anakin asked, exasperated as he saw a profile of a Harvard girl, with petite stature and described with hazel eyes and brown hair. He sneakily placed her in the ‘acceptable’ pile. “I need you guys to be on my side.”

“We’re on your side! We just… Is this because of  _ her? _ ”

“Amee?” Anakin frowned. “No. I know she wanted to have a family with me, but I didn’t love her and if we had a child it would tie us forever and… I wasn’t comfortable. Surrogacy will allow me to have my child with me. Always. No strings. No shared custody. It’s perfect.”

“Pretty sure your mom meant She-Whose-Name-You-Don’t-Let-Us-Say.”

“No, it’s not because of  _ her.  _ Why would she have anything to do with this?” Anakin snapped, annoyed.

“Ani, you have to admit, most of the girls you’re considering do have a bit of a resemblance.”

“Just because I have a certain type, it doesn’t mean it’s because of her and you know what, if you’re going to be judgy and make obnoxious comments about my past relationship, I’ll choose the donor myself,” Anakin said, irritated.

“Okay, okay, we’re sorry!” Ahsoka sighed.

“And if you bring her up again, you’re out of this experience. Now,” he cleared his throat. “Help me find the donor.”

* * *

“I have an announcement.”

“This ought to be good,” Sola mused. “The floor is all yours, baby sister.”

“I’m planning to have a baby.” Padmé took a sip of her wine as she looked between her parents and her sister. Darred was upstairs, putting Ryoo and Pooja to bed. “I’m doing it through a family planning center.”

“Wait, you are what?” Jobal asked, shocked, as she glanced at her husband. 

“Padmé, you’re not even married!” Ruwee pointed out. “What is this all about?”

“It’s about me wanting to be a mom, Daddy,” Padmé answered calmly. “And I know I’m not married, but I’m not sure when the right guy is going to come along, and I don’t want to keep putting it on hold for my career. I’m using a sperm donation.” She’d been expecting this, to a degree. And she had a good idea of what was going to be asked next. “Do you think I can’t handle being a single parent?”

“It’s not that we doubt your skills as a parent, Padmé, but it’s not easy,” Sola said carefully. “Have you thought about all of the ramifications of your decision? A child without a father. A pregnancy on your own. I understand you want to be a parent, but… I speak for me, I wouldn’t imagine going through it without Darred.”

“I won’t be alone, I have a pretty tightly knit staff,” Padmé pointed out. “And if need be, I can hire additional help, most people would jump at the chance to work for me. I  _ am _ the Mayor of New York.”

“Padmé… friends are not the same,” Sola made a face. “It’s your decision, but I hope you know how difficult it is. I will support you, you are my sister and I know being a mother is the best feeling in the world, but I want you to be real about this.”

“Honey, do you really want to do this?” Jobal sighed. “Can’t you wait to find the right man, the person who you will see and say,” she squeezed her husband’s hand, “ _ this is going to be the father of my children _ ?”

“Mom, I’ve been waiting ten years for that guy, and I’m done waiting.”

“You know where he lives, you could just knock on his door and invite him for dinner,” Sola shrugged, sipping on her own wine. “Or is he not the reason you’re done waiting?”

It took everything Padmé had not to throw her glass at her sister in a childish retaliation. “This has nothing to do with _him_ or any other ex. Besides, if the guy who’s supposed to be my ‘one true love,’” she paused to roll her eyes, “can’t accept me having biological children through a sperm donor, is he really ‘the one?’ Leaving aside the fact that the concept of ‘the one’ is severely overblown thanks to the double whammy of Valentine’s Day and the wedding industry?”

Sola only smirked, probably noticing how her prim sister held back her most violent reaction. “Don’t get political with me, sis.”

“Padmé, we can’t change your mind, we never could,” Ruwee sighed. “If this is what you want to do, you know we’ll support you.”

“Yes, it will be another grandchild, after all. We will love him or her all the same,” Jobal agreed.

“ _ Thank you _ ,” Padmé huffed. “Because I brought my pile of possible choices tonight, and I thought we could all have a good laugh looking over them together.”

“Gimme,” Sola extended her hand and flexed her fingers eagerly. Padmé reached into her purse for the folder, passing it to her sister with another dramatic eye roll. Sola opened the folder and started scanning the first few profiles. She raised her eyes to stare at her sister. “Really, Padmé? Could you be more obvious?” She passed the folder to their parents with a slight shake of her head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Your top six profiles all are tall, blond-haired, and blue-eyed men,” Sola pointed out. “You are desperate for that blonde cherub baby with a dimpled chin and bright, playful blue eyes, aren’t you?”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion.”

“Yes, that is what this is,” Sola snorted. “I mean… it’s easier and much cheaper to try and fix the relationship, but mom and dad are right, you are impossible when you set your mind on something.”

“The relationship you’re talking about can’t be fixed, it’s scorched earth.”

“These men all seem very fit to the role,” Jobal said, clearing her throat. “I expected to see more donors inclined to the arts and politics, but they are all from either information or engineering colleges. Interesting,” she said lightly and Sola cackled. “It’s very hard to choose, though.”

“Yes, they’re basically all the same,” Ruwee muttered to himself.

“So I wanted qualities to balance out mine, that’s hardly a sin. Or an indication that I want to get back together with a jerk.” 

“Excuse me, Padmé, I think you mean  _ Mr. Billionaire  _ Jerk,” Sola teased. “He was hot as hell, you can admit it. No one will think less of you. He is good daddy material.”

“Sola, please, you’re married,” Ruwee scoffed.

“What the hell happened? I put my daughters to bed and come back to my wife plotting to leave me?” Darred asked as he came down the stairs.

“Not a chance, my darling, I love you to pieces. I’m just riling up my sister to get a confession. Padmé is having a baby. Through a donor. A  _ blonde  _ donor. With  _ blue  _ eyes. Inclined to  _ engineering _ . I mean, just drunk dial him already,” Sola rolled her eyes and she took Darred’s hand. “You remember He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, right?”

“Hard to forget, he’s in our wedding pictures.” Padmé’s brother-in-law laughed as he took the seat between Sola and Jobal, examining one of the profiles. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. This one even has Swedish ancestry. Swap CalTech for MIT and he’d be a dead ringer.”

“Ugh, I did not want to have a repeat of the conversations I had with my friends!” Padmé complained.

“Sweetheart, your sister might be teasing, but I worry if this is healthy,” Jobal said, concerned. “I mean… you really want to leave him in the past, don’t you? This doesn’t seem the right way to do so.”

“Mom, come on. I’m  _ fine. _ ”

“Let’s be serious about this,” Ruwee said with a smile. “Padmé wants to be a mother, so let’s help her choose the father of her child. Why don’t we each take a few profiles, examine it with care, and make our stay or go piles? Then put it all together and decide!”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Darred said, giving his wife a pointed look. “I’ll get the wine,” he kissed Sola’s forehead and headed to the kitchen.

“Thank you, Daddy,” Padmé smiled angelically at her father. “I knew you’d be on my side eventually.”

“I love you, Padmé and if this is what you want, I support you.”

“Take a lesson from him,” Padmé looked pointedly at the others. “That’s what I need right now.”

“As long as you’re happy, sis,” Sola sighed. “Let’s pick your baby daddy.”

“Yes, let’s.” Padmé’s smile turned a little savage. “And if you bring up  _ him _ again, you’ll find out just how much I can hold a grudge.”

* * *

Anakin stared at the Coruscant Family Services sign and took a deep breath. This was the day he had been excited and scared to reach. Implantation day. His surrogate had texted him, she was already inside getting prepped for the procedure.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” he confessed. “I mean, there is only twenty percent of a chance that it will take, but… it’s still twenty percent. In two weeks we’ll know if I’m going to be a dad or not.”

“Aren’t you just going in to watch them stick a turkey baster into her?” Ahsoka drummed on the dashboard. “I may have stopped paying attention to the mechanics after a while.”

“It’s… more sophisticated than that, Ahsoka. She’s a really sweet girl and I said I would be present on every step. I want to be present. This is my future.”

“Aww, maybe you’ll fall for her while all this goes on, and end up professing your love as she gives birth.”

“I actually have to worry that that will happen to you, not to me,” he smirked. “I’m not really her type.”

“Oh, please, you’re basically everyone’s type. Even gay girls are a little bit into you.”

“Thanks for the support,” Anakin chuckled.

“Honestly, Anakin, this is all still a little weird to me. You’re making a baby with two completely different strangers. I always thought if you made a baby, it’d be with one person.”

“It’s with one stranger, Anne is really just carrying the baby,” Anakin grimaced. “I know how you feel, I didn’t think it would come down to doing this either. But the truth is… I’m two years away from being thirty and I always wanted to be a parent before I hit that mark. I’m not married, there is no one special in my life. I had two options. See life pass me by, or grab it and do it my way. It might be strange now, but when the baby is here, it will be alright.”

“I better be this kid’s favorite auntie, or I’m never going to forgive you,” Ahsoka warned with a grin, then paused and squinted for a moment. “That was weird.”

“What?” He asked, looking around.

“I could have sworn I saw…”  _ Rabé Saltro? _

“Who?” Anakin frowned. 

“No one important. Go on in, watch them make your baby.”

“Thank you for coming with me,” he kissed her cheek before exiting the car.

“Yeah, no problem, you’re my best friend,” she nodded. “I’m really happy for you.”

Ashoka watched as he closed the car door and walked inside the clinic. This was it.


	2. Three Weeks Later

* * *

**11 years ago...**

* * *

“I’m scared.” Padmé’s fingers sunk into her sister’s arms. “Sola, I’m so scared. This is my entire future wrapped up in this little stick.”

“You should have told him,” Sola said, softly pushing Padmé’s hair from her face. “He could have been here with you. It would make it easier.”

“I couldn’t,” the younger Naberrie sister admitted quietly. “I haven’t been able to talk to him since I told him, it’s just… it’s too much for everything.”

“Are you still fighting?” her sister questioned. “It’s not the time for such. You should be united.”

Padmé’s silence was all the answer she received. Standing up, she paced around the room, rubbing at her hands nervously. “This is going to derail everything if it’s positive. I can’t believe, after all the precautions I took, this is even happening! This shouldn’t be happening! I have exams, and graduation speeches… I can’t be having a baby!”

“Only abstinence prevents pregnancy scares and you’ll see that this is nothing but that, a scare,” Sola tried to assure her younger sister, but in truth, she was as scared that the test was going to be positive as Padmé was. “It’s not worth sacrificing a four-year relationship, you two should sit down and talk, like adults, no matter how this test turns out.”

“What if this is a sign, though? If that thing is positive, our entire lives are going to change, and I haven’t planned for that. And he hasn’t planned for _anything!_ ”

“Padmé, no one plans to have a baby at seventeen and you’re being a little unfair with him, just because he’s a free spirit. He has applied to colleges and is on a good path to get a scholarship, isn’t he?” Sola pointed out delicately. “This is nerves talking.”

“He’s on the path he’s on because other people do the work for him!” Padmé huffed. “Half the scholarships and grants he’s up for, he wouldn’t know about if I hadn’t shown them to him!”

“You have been dating for four years. Now, you notice how his lack of planning skills bother you?”

“I haven’t had the potential of a baby hanging over us, throwing the future into glaringly harsh light for the last four years!”

“If this test turns positive, I’m sure he’ll step into the role gracefully, because it’s who he is,” Sola sighed.

“And then what? We’ll be those teen parents who have to give up on their futures because we were horny idiots whose condoms _and_ pills failed?”

Sola frowned and shifted uncomfortably. “Padmé… do you… do you want to break-up with him? Over irrational fears and hormones spiraling out of control? You two deserve more than that. A conversation. A sit-down where you two talk and you explain to him how you feel. Kindly. Not the way you’re doing right now.”

“I don’t _know_!”

“Girls, is everything alright in there?” their mother’s voice came through the door.

“Everything’s fine, Mom!”

“Padmé is just worried about her graduation dress,” Sola lied smoothly before snapping to Padmé. “What do you mean, _you don’t know_? I thought you two were forever and ever sort of thing.”

“Yeah, well, I’m no longer sure _he_ sees it that way. And if he can’t picture our forever, maybe I shouldn’t keep building my life around that.”

Sola grabbed the stick and looked down at the result. She stood up and extended it to her younger sister. “Be careful, sis. Don’t ruin the best thing you ever had out of fear of the unknown,” she said.

“That is _so_ anti-feminist!”

“Whatever you say,” Sola let her have the negative pregnancy stick and walked towards the door. “When you start getting political, it’s when I start to worry,” opening, she left without saying another word.

Padmé stared down at the frowny face and let out a long exhale. “Thank God…”

* * *

**Now...**

* * *

“Thank God!” Padmé punched the air as she examined her home test gleefully, looking at the window. “Yes!”

“Did it stick? It stuck, didn’t it?” Sabé asked from outside the bathroom door.

“Let us in,” Dormé begged. “Come on, we’re a part of this too!”

“Are you pregnant or not?” Sabé pressured.

“Ladies,” Padmé opened the door, displaying the little smiley face for them to see, “the city of New York is going to have a First Child.”

“You did it!” Rabé squealed happily. “Congratulations.”

“Well, I’m going to wait and make sure the blood test is right too before I tell my family, but I like my odds. And I should be getting the call today.”

“You’re having your baby, I’m so happy for you,” Dormé celebrated. “Are you nervous? Excited? How do you feel?”

“Amazing.” Padmé pulled her friends in for a tight hug. “This is everything I’ve wanted for a long time. I’m so glad I decided to do this.”

“This is going to be one lucky and blessed child,” Sabé beamed.

“Padmé?” Yané knocked on the office door and entered. “The Coruscant Family Center called, they want you to drop by this afternoon, if possible,” she beamed and looked around. “I take it the test was positive, then?”

“It was positive, but I didn’t think I needed any follow-up appointments,” Padmé said, frowning slightly. “Besides, I’ve got that meeting with the Parks Department this afternoon, I really can’t put it off.”

“They were insistent,” Yané pursed her lips. “You’re free at two. The meeting with Parks is at half-past four.”

“Fine, if they’re insisting, I can squeeze them in,” Padmé acquiesced as her phone vibrated. Reaching down, she saw that it was a news alert.

_Lightspeed patents C-3PO Living Aid System, spring release planned._

_“_ I’ll confirm with them,” Yané nodded, slipping out of the office.

“Okay, everyone, back to work,” Padmé said, still staring at her phone as she fought the urge to click on the banner.

“Click in the damn link,” Dormé whispered as she brushed past her friend.

“We have a lot to do, come on,” Sabé nudged Dormé on her way out.

“Congratulations again, Pad,” Rabé beamed.

“Thank you.” Padmé put her phone back in her pocket defiantly as she returned to her desk. “So, what’s next?”

* * *

“You’re depressing me,” Ahsoka sighed, setting a cup of coffee in front of Anakin. “It was a twenty percent chance.”

Anakin sighed, closing the lid on his laptop and setting it aside. He ran his hands through his head and groaned. His conversation with Anne that morning was an awful way to start his day. His surrogate had done five different pregnancy tests. All of them negative. His time to become a father hadn’t come. “I’m just disappointed. I really thought it would be positive and I had created so many expectations, I… it was really hard to receive that call.”

“Yeah, well, about that, we got a call from Coruscant just now. They want you to come in at two.”

“Why?” He questioned, frowning. “The test is negative, the implantation failed.”

“They didn’t specify.” Ahsoka shrugged. “But you didn’t have anything big scheduled for this afternoon, so I went ahead and said yes.”

“The only thing I can remember is that some bloodwork is necessary,” Anakin sighed. “Thanks, anyway, Snips. I’ll be at the clinic at two.”

“And hey, there’s always next time,” she pointed out. “There’s gonna be a next time, this is gonna work out for you.”

“We’ll see. Maybe this was a sign that surrogacy is not the way to go. I might look into adoption next,” he pointed out.

“If you do adopt, it’d be kind of cute if you went to the same home I came from,” she suggested. “Your kid could be like my sibling.”

“It’s something to definitely think about,” he smiled. “Thank you, Snips. Give me the analysis on the patent from today, when it’s available. I need to evaluate the market impact.”

“I’m on it. And then maybe we talk about the R-series?”

“I have a meeting with Kit and the rest of the R&D team tomorrow for that. Ask my assistant to schedule something after that?”

“Yessir, right away, sir.” She did a very overdramatic salute. Anakin gave her a small smile and a shake of his head. Trust Ahsoka to amuse him on a grey day.

* * *

“Oh, Padmé, that’s wonderful news!”

“Isn’t it?” Padmé grinned into her webcam. “I’ve got an appointment with Coruscant this afternoon, I’m not sure what for, but I’m too happy to care right now.”

“We’re happy for you,” Ruwee beamed. “And our new grandchild, of course.”

“Have you scheduled your appointments, dear? You better get on to that,” Jobal advised.

“Rabé’s doing that while I’m handing whatever it is that’s happening at the Coruscant. The good thing about using artificial means is that it’s a _lot_ easier to calculate the calendar and make the right appointments. I know the exact date of conception.”

“You’re nothing if not a planner, sweetheart,” Ruwee chuckled.

“I know.”

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Naberrie,” Rabé waved at the phone. “Madam Mayor, we’ve reached Coruscant. I’ll be waiting out here with the car when you’re done, just give me a call.”

“Good luck, honey, let us know how it goes,” Jobal said. “We love you and we’re very, very happy for you.”

“Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Daddy. Love you guys!” Padmé hung up and slid on her sunglasses before getting out of the car and taking in the late August air.

* * *

“Mr. Skywalker, thank you for coming,” Dr. Boll sighed as she tapped the folder in front of her. “I understand your surrogate was supposed to be testing today?”

“Yes, however all of the pregnancy tests she has done were negative. Is it still necessary for her to come in and do some bloodwork?” Anakin asked with a sigh. “I am still trying to understand why I was called today.”

“There've been some complications, and we’re waiting on a third person for this meeting before I can go any further, but I promise you’ll get an explanation very soon.”

Anakin frowned. “Complications?” He repeated slowly. “What _kind_ of complications do you refer to?”

Before Dr. Boll could answer, the door opened and a brunette woman in an immaculate purple suit stepped through. Then she stopped and looked straight at Anakin with a pair of striking, unmistakable brown eyes. “What the _fuck_ are you doing here?”

And just like that, Anakin felt murderous. “ _You._ ”

* * *

**11 years ago...**

* * *

Anakin stared down at the watered-down coffee of the dinner they would usually eat on Saturday morning. It was a sweet routine, meant for them to spend some time together, without families or friends, just them and Anakin usually looked forward to it, but there was a palpable tension in the air that particular morning. It felt odd, being uncomfortable around the woman he loved, they were never this way before. Their relationship was so pure and they were usually so connected that he found this moment awkward and unnatural. He couldn’t wait for them to return to normal.

Padmé had called him the night before, letting him know that they wouldn’t be parents but that she still needed to see him. She was so cold and distant, it put him off, but his mother had reassured him it was probably stress and nerves of the entire situation and that he needed to understand that a scare like that, would make anyone sound weird. Just like the young couple, Shmi was relieved to hear that she wouldn’t be a grandmother so soon.

However, Anakin was apprehensive. Their relationship has been strained ever since their last semester of school started and only worsened with the pregnancy scare. Anakin hoped that, after everything was said and done and their graduation was complete, that they could settle into their normal life. He had big plans for their summer, meaning so that they could enjoy each other before the craziness of college started and they became wrapped up in their respective schools. He missed her. He missed _them_.

“So,” Padmé took a long drink of her own coffee, breaking him out of his thoughts and making him look up at her with a small smile. “We don’t have to plan the next eighteen years of our lives around something neither of us was ready for.”

“True. It’s not a real high school experience without a pregnancy scare,” he let out a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m glad it was negative. We have time for that.”

“Do we?”

“Don’t we?” He retorted, tilting his head, some of his blonde hair falling in his eyes. “We have talked about wanting to be parents when we both have a stable life. That will still take some time but when it happens, we can plan for it.” She laughed, and it wasn’t the kind of laugh he liked to hear from her. His shoulders dropped and he leaned back, pursing his lips. “What’s wrong?”

“You don’t plan things!” she said incredulously and he frowned at the sudden attack. “You never have, there’s no _we_ in the planning, it’s me! I do it! I always end up doing the planning and the worrying, while you wing it and everything somehow turns out fine!”

“I was _always_ like that,” Anakin pointed out, shifting uncomfortably. “We used to joke that it was why we balanced each other so well. You would be the planner and I would be the one that would make us do spontaneous things. What’s the problem now?”

“The problem is that you can’t just wing it with a baby, Anakin. Or in life in general. You can mock me all you want, but planning is necessary, and you just… don’t seem to get that! High school’s ending and I don’t think you’re entirely prepared to consider your own future, let alone one where we’re together and having kids!”

“I have time to prepare. I have time to get ready. If you were pregnant, sure, I would have to do everything much earlier than I wanted, but I would have stepped up to be the man you needed me to be,” Anakin pointed out, tightening his hold on the cup of coffee he was still holding. “The fact that you don’t recognize that, it’s just hurtful, after everything we’ve been through,” he added, his eyes flashing with hurt as her words hit him. “What’s wrong with wanting to live my life with some sense of freedom? I don’t need to plan every moment of my day, I don’t have to. I like to be surprised but I also don’t _wing_ everything, you know. I’m graduating. With honors. With a scholarship. I give my all when I have to. I know this scare scrambled your brain, I just don’t know why you’re lashing out at me.”

“If you don’t understand after four years of dating, then maybe we don’t know each other as well we think!”

He paled, taken aback by her fury. “Padmé, why can’t we enjoy graduation and the summer and _then_ plan for the rest of college?” He asked, voice trembling. “We’ll book a weekend getaway to do it,” he offered. “Whatever you want. How you want it, just… _enjoy_ the fact that we’re not going to be teenage parents. Enjoy being a teenager while we still can? You’re eighteen and acting like you’re forty, you need to loosen up a little bit.”

“I’m not acting like I’m forty, you’re acting like we’re fourteen,” she argued stubbornly. “We’re not kids anymore. It’s not okay to just wander around and say that we’ll do it later, because a _lot_ can happen between now and later!”

“No, we’re not _kids_ but we’re not adults either. You don’t have to live your life through a calendar. Maybe you can stop for a little while and actually try and be a teenager for once.”

“Maybe dating you _was_ my way of ‘being a teenager.’” The words felt like poison as soon as they left her lips, and the color drained from her face as it did for her boyfriend’s as well. “Anakin… I didn’t...”

“No,” he said, his voice very faint as he pulled back, her words hurting him more than he expected to. Anakin shook his head, confused. _What did that even mean?_ Clearly, Padmé had gotten up that morning to bite his head off and this was more than just fear talking, it was something else entirely. “You were with me because I made you feel like a teenager? Younger, is that it? What the heck has gotten into you to say something like that when we shared the last four _fucking_ years together?” He hissed, blue eyes turning cold.

“I didn’t mean it like that—”

“You know, back in the day, people told me I was an idiot for chasing after you. Beautiful, but made of ice. Brilliant, but borderline OCD with your future. I always told them they _were_ the idiots because they didn’t know you like I did,” _I thought I was the only one that you could be real with._ “But hey, I was just the kid that made you feel young,” his voice was honestly shaking as he pushed the cup away from himself before he did something irrational. 

“I’m sorry! I got emotional, it slipped out, this wasn’t going how I planned it in my head!”

“Then how did you plan it, Padmé?” He asked with a hiss, frustration, hurt, and anger getting the better of him. “Because from the moment you walked through that door, you had a carefully written speech and a planned PowerPoint on what you wanted to tell me, didn’t you?” He pointed, his voice sharper. “So far I’ve been called irresponsible, a child, _an excuse…_ what else?” His eyes narrowed. “I’m curious. Go on. What else do you think of me?” She buried her face in her hands and started crying. The few other patrons in the diner, mostly construction workers, stared at them unsubtly but Anakin ignored them. “Crying is not getting you out of this conversation. This is what you wanted. You’ve been treating me like a thorn in your side since this semester started, so let’s get it all out.”

“It was _not_ the whole semester!” she protested and he scoffed. The canceled dates, the less than pleasant tone. It was a wonder, really, that she even got a pregnancy scare. “And I don’t understand why _I’m_ the bad guy for being upset that my boyfriend didn’t seem to want to take any initiative in talking about where our relationship was going after high school, to the point where I had to have a _pregnancy scare_ to get us to this point!”

“There doesn't need to exist a _bad guy_ but you are the one who has been attacking me since we sat down, don’t play the victim now,” Anakin pointed out, frustrated that she was turning the tables, as she always did if he thought hard enough. “I thought my feelings for you were clear, I have told you more than once where I see myself in the future. With you. Always with you. My life has been _you_ for the past four years. I have never once told you ‘no’. I have lived and breathed for you. Just because I’m not making a bucket list of checkpoints for the next four years, I’m not thinking about where our relationship is going?”

“A prom picture with the words ‘together forever’ on it doesn’t count as thinking about the future! It’s abstract cheese that everyone says! We live in a real world, and I was trying to picture us in it.”

“Can we go back to Christmas, where you had a panic attack when you thought I was proposing?” He pointed out. “Which by the way, I was not against but after _that_ reaction, well…”

“I panicked because that’s exactly what you always do! Grand romantic gestures without thinking about the long term reality of those gestures!” 

“Ah, let’s add another thing to your list. I don’t usually think about my actions or their consequences. Good, keep going. You’re doing great,” he smiled coldly, voice dripping with sarcasm. “You know, you are doing a lot of laps just to tell me that you want to end things,” he paused, the muscle in his jaw twitching as he gritted his teeth together. “It’s what you want, isn’t it?” His heart broke just thinking about it as he felt his blood run cold.

“The way you’re acting isn’t exactly giving me any reason to want to stay,” she shot back, tears still shining in her eyes.

“The way you have been acting isn’t making me jump up and down with joy either. Behavior breeds behavior,” he snapped, trembling with emotions. “I wanted to be with you when you took the test. You said no, like I didn’t matter. I have been bending over backward to make you happy for so long and all you do is criticize me. Nothing is ever good enough for you.”

“That is _not_ true!”

He raised one eyebrow. “Last month I tried to plan a getaway, you berated me for not thinking about how we needed to do was study and not have mindless fun. Don’t even get me started on Spring Break and how nothing was good for us to do together.”

“AP exams are major college credits, and excuse me for not wanting us to get killed in a DUI or something! And for the record, Anakin, the fact that I agreed to go out with you in the first place should prove I don’t think nothing is good enough for me!”

“It was two days, you weren’t going to flunk for _two_ days,” he scoffed. “And Spring Break does not mean DUI. Or getting killed. I had to see my friends have the time of their lives while we stayed safely in our homes and went to bed at ten, which, I didn’t mind, because I was with you and that’s all that mattered to me,” he shook his head. “What do you mean with that?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean? Do you honestly think I would have spent one night with you, let alone the last four years dating you, if I thought you weren’t good enough for me?” she asked in disbelief, standing up. “I never asked you to give up spending time with your friends, I didn’t say you had to build your life around me, you made that choice all on your own.”

“Where are you going?” He asked as he watched her stand up.

“I’m done. I can’t do this.”

“Don’t act like this is my fault,” he stood as well. “You knew exactly what you were doing today. This is what you wanted. You decided as much when that test turned negative. If you are not ready to hear the truth about you, don’t lash out at others. Sometimes, a little introspection is good too,” Anakin pointed out hotly, and even as he felt his heart break, he uttered the words that lead to the final of their argument. “You’re not done. _I’m_ done.”

“Good! Maybe then you’ll finally take some initiative and make something of yourself rather than just wandering through life like a fucking tourist!” she snapped, storming out of the diner and slamming the door behind her.

“Good luck finding someone to love your _cold and dead heart,_ ” he shouted after her as the whole dinner went quiet. “What?” He shouted at them, slamming a few bills on the counter, before storming out as well.


	3. The Worst Possible Thing

“What the  _ fuck _ are you doing here?”

“ _ You. _ ”

“Madam Mayor,” Dr. Boll cleared her throat as she looked between Padmé and Anakin. “I asked him to be here, this is—”

“I know perfectly well who Anakin Skywalker is.” Padmé sat in the chair furthest from her ex-boyfriend, crossing her legs at the ankle and hugging her purse tightly against her chest.

Anakin gave a cold laugh as he still couldn’t believe that after eleven years, this was how they reunited. “Still the uptight bitch I remember, I see.” Dr. Boll widened her eyes at both of her clients. This was not a good omen for the news she was about to break to them.

“You didn’t have a problem dating this  _ uptight bitch _ for four years,” Padmé shot back.

“My way of having my nightmare High School experience,” he retorted sweetly, his eyes murderous and his smile cold.

“Dr. Boll, can you please explain why we are here as quickly and efficiently as possible, I do have a city to be running.”

“I have a multi-billion dollar industry to get back to,” Anakin drawled out.

The doctor looked between them and felt the palpable tension. She gulped and licked her dry lips. “I wasn’t aware you knew each other.”

“Unfortunately, I had the displeasure of knowing our Mayor, yes,” he replied. “Why are we here, Dr. Boll?”

“Yes, er, well, the explanation.” She opened the folder and spread the forms across the desk. “There was some trouble on the tenth, the day Mr. Skywalker was making his deposit for the fertilization of his donor’s egg. The same day Mayor Naberrie came in for her artificial insemination. One of our lab techs mistakenly switched the samples, something we, unfortunately, didn’t notice until after we’d done the implantation on your surrogate, Mr. Skywalker.”

Anakin felt his stomach drop as the realization of what had happened dawned on him. He paled, face losing all color as he went over her words, over and over again.  _ No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. _

“You can’t be serious.” Padmé gripped her purse even tighter against her chest. “Do you mean I… with  _ him? _ ”

“Please tell me this is a joke,” Anakin pleaded, feeling his heart thundering in his ribcage. This did not happen in real life. It couldn’t be possible. “Oh, God, please tell me you’re lying. This is an elaborate prank. There are cameras, aren’t they? This is not true, this is for some sick and twisted show. Is this for Ellen?”

“If we were on Ellen, do you think I would have said  _ fuck _ ?” Padmé pointed out icily.

“Shut up, I’m pretending you don’t exist,” Anakin snapped.

“Madam Mayor, we already have confirmation from Mr. Skywalker that the attempt to implant a fertilized—”

“I’m pregnant,” Padmé cut her off and Anakin dropped his head on his hands and let out a small whimper. “Yes. That’s what you were going to ask, wasn’t it? Whether or not my insemination was successful?”

“In a word, ma’am, yes.” 

Anakin felt nauseated. He spent years forgetting and removing the bits and pieces that  _ that  _ woman left in his life after high school and this… this was a cruel joke that fate decided to play. He considered himself to be a good man. He had always given back to the community, ever since he was living paycheck to paycheck, ever since his mother had to work two jobs to put food on the table. Anakin put a lot of effort into charity. He was a good person, why did this have to happen to him? He had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t having a vivid nightmare. 

“I have  _ three _ words for you, Dr. Boll. Medical malpractice suit. Unquestionably. The kind of irresponsibility needed for a mistake of this magnitude is simply unacceptable,” Padmé said bluntly.

“The Mayor’s suit is not the only one you will have to worry about,” Anakin said, eyes flashing. “Do you know how many lives you just ruined? The money that we pay you should guarantee that no mistakes like this one happen!”

The doctor paled and started sweating, rubbing her palms on her pants. “There are… there are options,” she stuttered. “We can perform an abortion, if you wish to, and redo the procedures, free of charge. We understand the heavy implications of our mistake and we wish there was an easier solution, but… nothing like this has ever happened before.”

“I’ve already told my family I’m expecting, and I’m the  _ Mayor of New York. _ If it leaked to the press that I terminated a pregnancy, my career would effectively be over,” snapped Padmé.

“Oh, don’t mess with her career,” Anakin muttered, rolling his eyes so hard, he was sure he could have gotten them stuck in the back of his head. “That is the only important thing for her.”

“And even if that  _ weren’t  _ the case, there would still be a lawsuit coming!” Padmé continued indignantly, deliberately ignoring the snark of her ex-boyfriend. “It’s gross negligence!”

“While it pains me to admit it, the Ice Queen has a point.  _ Free  _ procedures won’t undo your mistake and will not make us forget it happened. After this, what makes you think I will want to use your clinic for anything ever again?” Anakin scowled before turning to his ex-girlfriend. “And how  _ sure  _ are you that you are pregnant? Tests can be wrong. You might have a false positive.”

“I had a blood test as well as a store-bought test.” Padmé gave him a withering glare and he matched her with one of his own. “And my insemination day was during peak ovulation. Because I planned to do this only once.”

Anakin snorted and laughed darkly. “I’m sorry, an involuntary reaction every time the words ‘I planned’ come out of your mouth,” he said and then paused as he turned to the doctor. “I’m begging you to tell me you are lying.  _ That…  _ thing can’t be pregnant with  _ my  _ child. Please tell me you’re lying. Tell me it’s not my child and I won’t sue. Please. I am  _ begging  _ you.”

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Boll sighed, “but I can’t do that.”

“Your life is over,” Anakin stated as he gave a sideways glance to Padmé and made a face. “Just like mine is, apparently,” he sat back down and rubbed a hand across his face. The wicked part of his brain hoping for a miscarriage before he scolded himself on such awful thoughts. That was not a thing to be wished upon anyone, not even on your worst enemy.

“For God’s sake, Anakin, you have plenty of additional sperm, just find another egg donor and a different clinic and do the process with them,” Padmé scowled.

“Wait, you think I’m just going to forget that you’re carrying my baby?” Anakin peered up at her and a decade ago, those words would have caused joy and happiness within him, no matter their age. At this time, and with their story, this was just the worst outcome. “Because, really, what do you think happens now? You walk out the door with my child and you’ll never see me again?”

“It’s  _ my _ child too, I will remind you!”

“I have rights,” he said, standing up. Dr. Boll cringed at their arguing. She knew she would be sued. She knew it would be a difficult situation to manage. She didn’t expect the incredible coincidence of happening to a former couple that apparently hated each other. “I’m not just going to let this go, Padmé. While you are the last woman on Earth I wanted to be going through this with, I can’t do anything about it now, so… we’ll have to work out a plan that suits us both.”

“Quick, Doctor, check outside to make sure the apocalypse hasn’t started, Anakin Skywalker actually wants to make a plan,” Padmé said scathingly.

“You know what?” Anakin took a steadying breath. “I can’t stand you,” he said calmly and paused. “I didn’t even vote for you. I’ll get my lawyers in touch with you,” he pointed at the doctor, who gulped, “and you,” he waved at the Mayor. “Because as I said, I have rights. I want this child, obviously, so they’ll be the ones to legally figure this out and work out a plan,” he grimaced as he brushed past her. “I will see you in the first sonogram.”

“Bold of you to assume you’re getting to go to any sonogram,” she snapped, getting up to follow him as she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Rabé.

“Oh, I am going, because like it or not, I’m the father of this baby and that’s not something I am going to ignore just for your sake,” he turned around, looking down at her. Even in heels, Padmé was still a head shorter than he was. “I want to be part of this process and I am not letting you ruin it for me.”

“You’re not the only one going through this process, or the only one who wanted a child. Or did you think I just got artificially inseminated for kicks?” she snapped. “It’s  _ my _ baby.”

“It’s  _ my  _ baby too,” he pointed out. “You’re not pushing me out of this.”

“You’re the one pushing yourself into this! I heard her in there, you have a surrogate lined up! Just use her like you planned and get out of my life!”

“I have a surrogate but  _ you  _ got my sample, what the fuck do you think I’m going to do? Forget I fathered a child?”

“I’m sorry, you  _ want _ an arrangement where we’re permanently in each other’s lives until one of us dies?”

“I don’t have another choice,” Anakin said, and he was actually helpless. “I’m not going to ignore the fact that I am having a baby. Even if it’s with you. We will both have to adjust.”

“Ugh, I’d almost rather take the political suicide,” she growled, “make the choice for both of us, it’ll be just like old times.”

Anakin shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t like the idea of an abortion. It was so… cruel. But then again, looking at the woman who had broken his heart, his spirit, his everything, eleven years ago, he was tempted to push her to do it. “I’ll be at the sonograms. Those will be the only moments we’ll have to see each other. Everything else can be said through my lawyers,” he turned on his heel and left, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“And what about the rest of this child’s life?” she shot back. “God, you really haven’t changed at all, have you?”

“Will you give me a damn break? I found out five minutes ago I had to share a child with you. That wasn’t what I had hoped for. I’m sure an agreeable custody arrangement can be made with time,” Anakin growled.

“Because that’s exactly what I wanted when I decided I was going to have a baby on my own.”

“I didn’t want this either, but God has the worst sense of humor,” his phone beeped and he checked his messages, sighing. “I have to leave. I’ll get my team in touch with yours.”

“Take your time,” she scowled. “Not like I’m going anywhere.”

* * *

Shmi sighed as she sipped on the tea Darra had brought her. She watched her son pace in front of her, pursing her lips as she heard the call he was making, go to voicemail again, making him utter a string of curse words and irritated expressions. It pained her to watch him go through this. She still remembers the day he got home, after their breakup. And the days after. How he skipped graduation altogether, in order to start an early admission program at MIT that he had initially refused in order to be with his girlfriend. “Ani, darling, you need to breathe.”

“It’s been two weeks,” he snapped, leaning against his desk. “She’s doing this on purpose. To torture me. I have been calling non-stop, I haven’t heard anything back and  _ I know  _ she has had appointments without me when I explicitly told her I wanted to be a part of the development of this pregnancy. She’s being a vindictive bitch.”

“Anakin Skywalker, watch your language,” Shmi snapped. “That is not how I raised you and you are a better man than that.”

He cringed, having the decency to look ashamed. “I’m sorry. But I’m right. She’s doing this just to get to me, to purposefully hurt me.”

“You’re both in a situation neither of you wanted to be in, and neither of you is handling it well, but you’re not going to make any progress if you keep pressuring her like this.”

“I have to do something. She can’t think I am forgetting about this,” he sat down behind his desk and placed his head on his hands. “Mom, this is a nightmare. This is the worst thing that has happened to me. Why did this have to happen?” He whimpered. “I just wanted to have a baby and make wonderful memories, but,  _ oh my God,  _ this is… this is horrible.”

“And you don’t think she’s having similar feelings right now?”

“What side are you on?” He accused her.

“The side that best assures my grandchild grows up happy and healthy with loving parents.”

“I will love my child unconditionally, I can’t say the same thing for her mother,” Anakin said because after all the hurt she had caused him, he was not going to fall into her trap again. It took everything he had to move on from her. “I, however, am unhappy with the situation. It could have been any woman. Any woman and I would be happy. But no. It’s the she-devil herself.”

“Ani…”

“What?” He leaned back in his chair, groaning. “Ani what, Mom?”

“I realize that your breakup was difficult, but it’s been over a decade, and calling her the she-devil is not going to help the two of you raise this baby.”

“I’ve had difficult breakups, that was  _ not  _ a difficult breakup,”  _ it was much worse than that.  _ “No, but it makes me feel better, no matter how petty that is.”

“Wait a day. Take a breath. Do some work.  _ Then _ call her.”

“I’ve waited two weeks,” Anakin took a deep breath. “She has my baby,” he muttered.

“And you have hers.”

“I’m sending Obi-Wan there,” he jumped to his feet, starting to pace again. “She has to know I am not messing around and I am not a seventeen-year-old, lovesick idiot who will do her bidding.”

“I think you’re going about this the wrong way by treating it like a battle.”

“If she wanted it another way, she would have answered my calls,” Anakin hissed, pressing a button on his speaker.

“ _ Yes, Anakin?” _

“Get me Obi-Wan.  _ Now,  _ Darra. I don’t care if he’s on the moon.”

“ _ Aahh, yes, right away. _ ”

Anakin crossed his arms. “I’m getting my baby,” he muttered petulantly.

* * *

“Obi-Wan Kenobi’s here to see you, Madam Mayor.”

“Well, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time,” Padmé mused as she continued to flip through the newest tax legislation proposed for the city. “I’m assuming Mr. Skywalker sent him?”

“Who else?” Yané sighed tiredly. “He calls every hour. He’s driving me  _ insane, _ ” she narrowed her eyes as she stepped aside to let the other man in. “Right this way, Mr. Kenobi.”

“Thank you, my dear,” the tall, British man entered, looking impeccable in a dark blue suit with a light gray tie, his reddish-brown hair and matching beard perfectly combed. “Madam Mayor,” he nodded at Padmé. “You’re glowing.”

“Obi-Wan, I think we can dispense with the formalities, seeing as you’re not here for work,” Padmé nodded. “You’re here for personal matters.”

“I’ll leave you two,” Yané stepped out, closing the door.

“If that’s your wish… you have to pick up the phone,” Obi-Wan said, exasperated. He honestly felt like he was in an impossible situation. He couldn’t make Anakin listen to him, not when he was being ruled by his emotions. He hadn’t seen his best friend in such a state in many, many years. But it was like everything went out the window the moment Padmé entered the picture again. “Five minutes, Padmé. Just… give him five minutes.”

“I’m not going to take personal calls while I’m at work. I won’t abuse my office.”

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrow. She was no better than him. In his opinion, they were both acting childish and erratically. “Anakin is not playing around with this and I wouldn't underestimate how far he can go,” Obi-Wan sighed, sitting down and placing his briefcase next to him, that felt heavy with the documents Anakin all but forced him to arrange. “Padmé, he has custody pleas that he wants to submit to Family Court. He’s ready to launch an avalanche of processes to gain primary custody, if not sole custody. This can get ugly if you two don’t sit down and talk this through as responsible and educated adults.”

“ _ Not on city property _ ,” Padmé repeated stubbornly. “I have responsibilities to my constituents, and I refuse to let my personal life impact my place of work. If Anakin had any sense of propriety, he would have realized that, rather than flooding my voicemail and impeding my work for the last two weeks.”

“If you had answered the phone and gave him personal contacts, he wouldn’t be doing it. Actually, if you had allowed him on the first appointment, I wouldn’t be carrying the custody documents he forced me to print,” Obi-Wan pointed out diplomatically. “You’re both at fault here and I will hate to see this take a turn for the worse, when all you have to do is communicate.”

“Excuse me if I didn’t want him sitting in the corner of the room, watching while my obstetrician does a pelvic exam,” she muttered, rolling her eyes as she took a blank post-it note and scribbled her personal email and phone number on it. “There. Use that to set up something more appropriate, and tell him to stop calling me during business hours.”

Obi-Wan accepted the post-it and saved it in his briefcase, but he didn’t want to drag this out. “Can I set it up today? At Lightspeed’s HQ, half-past six?” He suggested.

“Fine.”

Sighing, Obi-Wan took a folder from his briefcase as he stood up. “These are the documents I hope I never have to submit to Court. You should read them,” he set them down on her desk. “It was good to see you,” he added with a small, friendly smile.

“How’s Satine?”

“Wonderful,” he beamed and checked his watch. “Probably picked our son from practice right about now,” he smiled. “I hope you both work things out so you can enjoy the sheer happiness that comes with being a parent  _ and  _ going through the process.”

“Obi-Wan, I like you as a person, please don’t ruin that by preaching to me. I will see you tonight at six-thirty.”

He was going to say something but gave up and just shook his head, leaving the Mayor’s office. He expected some very complicated months ahead for all of them.


	4. Aggressive Negotiations

Padmé walked into Lightspeed with a sour taste rising in her mouth, one that had nothing to do with the nausea of being in her first trimester. She hated to admit it, but Anakin had definitely made something of himself, and it was hard not to be impressed. The offices were modern, very open and spacious, with a lot of light and very clean decor. Desks were decorated with personal objects, but it was empty from the coworkers.

“Padmé?” Obi-Wan called her, appearing at her left and leading her down a hallway of offices and conference rooms. “Anakin is at his office. Shall we?”

“I don’t have much choice, do I?” she asked dryly.

He bit his tongue. They were both impossible and this had everything to turn into a disaster. “How has the first trimester treated you so far?” He asked as they passed a wall decorated with team pictures, awards, magazine covers and articles.

“Physically, very well,” she said neutrally. “The morning sickness has just started, but it’s manageable.”

“If you’re ever in trouble, Satine fought some serious morning sickness back in the day, she has a few remedies,” he stopped in front of a double door made of frosted glass, with elegant, silver letters spelling out ‘Anakin Skywalker - CEO’ and knocked once, before opening. “After you.”

Padmé took the bare minimum of steps inside, hovering at the door as she glared at her ex-boyfriend. “Anakin.”

He was leaning against the wall as he stared out of the window to the darkened skyline of New York. His suit jacket was on the back of his chair, his tie was gone and his sleeves were rolled up. “Take a seat,” he nodded at the back of his office, where a lounging area with white couches and glass tables made for a comfortable sigh, and finished his drink.

“I’m fine standing, thank you.”

Anakin glowered at her. “Whatever,” he shrugged as he went towards the lounging area and sat down on the main couch. “I’m going to be straight. I want full, physical custody and if Obi-Wan didn’t submit the documents as he should have done today,” he pinned his longtime friend with a glare, “he will tomorrow. I tried for the past two weeks to establish contact, but was unsuccessful, so I had no other choice but to make my intentions very clear.”

“Then let me make  _ my  _ intentions perfectly clear. I am not giving up  _ my _ child, and those claims you want Obi-Wan to submit are based on unsubstantiated evidence. You have no way of proving I’m an unfit mother before the baby’s even been born. What’s more, I think it’s the height of hypocrisy for you to act like I’m insane for wanting to keep my child just because you happen to have been the sperm donor, while at the same time, trying to lay claim to them for yourself.”

“I will leave it up to Family Court to decide,” he replied calmly. 

“Or you could just talk about joint custody like rational human beings,” Obi-Wan offered with a groan. “At the rate the two of you are going, the only way this ends is with a King Solomon’s gambit, and it’s ridiculous. You both have good jobs, you clearly care about this baby, just… compromise!”

Anakin shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. “See?” Padmé huffed. “He won’t even consider it. I suppose next you’ll try offering me whatever you were planning to pay your surrogate! Treat me like I’m just some kind of incubator!”

Before Anakin opened his mouth, Obi-Wan shut him down. “He won’t.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t consider it. Are you going to compromise on your feet, or are you sitting down so we can discuss what comes next?” Anakin offered.

“Fine,” she growled, taking a seat on the far edge of a smaller loveseat. “Happy? I’m sitting.”

“This is never going to work,” he complained to Obi-Wan, scoffing at being an idiot for listening to him at all. He should have let this be worked out through the legal actions he wanted to take.

“Diplomacy, both of you.  _ Please, _ ” the redhead implored tiredly. “You currently live within ten minutes’ driving of one another. It  _ would _ make a certain level of sense for Anakin to be the parent with primary custody depending on how Padmé fares in the next election. I am speaking purely from the viewpoint of stability. However, given her penchant for preparedness, I’m sure a viable schedule can be worked out.”

“When would my child stay with me?” Anakin asked him directly. “Or how are the periods determined?”

“That is a negotiation unto itself,” Obi-Wan started, but Padmé beat him to the punch by pulling out a sheet of paper.

“A fifty-fifty split has a few different models. One or two full weeks, or segmenting the weeks in alternate patterns. Three-four, two-five, two-two-three, or every two days,” she recited and Anakin had to bite back a comment and a roll of his eyes. “The smaller increments are recommended for younger children, but if we want the child breastfed, I’d need to be the primary guardian for at least six months.”

Anakin stood up and walked towards the window. He had promised to behave, so he was controlling his temper. It all meant that he was going to spend a week or two, days, without seeing his child, without being there. And that killed him because this was everything he didn’t want. “Obi-Wan, you will decide that,” he replied, staring angrily out of the window.

“I’m not happy about this either, you know,” Padmé pointed out quietly. 

He chose to ignore her comment, looking at Obi-Wan. “What else needs to be decided?”

“I suppose the only thing left to discuss is the matter of doctor’s appointments, and the birth plan.”

“I want to be in the appointments and that’s non-negotiable,” Anakin said as he poured himself another drink, his back still to them. “And I want to be in the room for their birth.”

“You know not every prenatal appointment is a sonogram, right?” Padmé pointed out. “You really want to spend time watching me pee and get weighed?”

“Fine, then we’ll need a calendar of the most important ones,” he replied.

“I already have it made.”

_ Of course, you do, you planning freak.  _ “Amazing,” he drawled out.

“I know you’re mocking me, you jackass.”

“You see what I mean?” Anakin turned to Obi-Wan. “I didn’t say anything offensive and she’s verbally abusing me. What else is missing, so we can all be on our way.”

“I’m taking the notes needed to draft a proper agreement, I should be able to send it to the two of you tomorrow.”

“Perfect, then we’re done,” Anakin said, coldly, as he walked back to his chair and started to pack his computer before he grabbed his jacket. “I’ll wait for the calendar and I guess I’ll have to see you at the first sonogram.”

“Yeah, sorry if that inconveniences you,” she said bitterly.

“Well, you were not my first choice, but I wasn’t yours either,” he replied back in the same tone. “There’s not a lot of options.”

“There were plenty of options, you just didn’t want to take any of them.”

He whirled around to face her, forgetting his good behavior promise. “The fact that you want me to abandon my child  _ doesn’t  _ make you an unfit parent? Because that’s what you’re referring to, right?  _ Abandonment _ .”

“Like it’s any different from what  _ you _ want to make me do! You’re not the only one who wanted a baby on their own, and you’re  _ definitely _ not the one who has to go through the physical act of gestating this child!”

“Sorry if that  _ inconveniences  _ you.”

“What  _ inconveniences _ me is your selfish, self-righteous attitude! You are not better than me, Anakin Skywalker!”

“When you make twenty-four thousand dollars  _ per  _ hour, you can say that,” he snapped. “Or does this all bother you?” He waved around. “The boyfriend who didn’t think about the future. Who didn’t plan. Who didn’t care.”

“Are you saying that because you’re making obscene amounts of money that you could never spend in a lifetime, you’re somehow better than a person who has dedicated their life to public service and the betterment of  _ everyone _ ’s lives, not just those who can buy your fancy robots?”

“No, he’s not,” Obi-Wan hissed, glaring at Anakin before he could reply.

“Oh, don’t speak on my behalf, because I’ve let her put me down for too long back when we dated,” Anakin said hotly. “She always had to be the perfect one. The good one. The innocent one who gets put on the pedestal.”

“Whatever baggage you’ve been carrying around since we broke up is on you, not me! You always took everything so damn personally! God, you’d think I’d murdered your mother!”

“Neither of you should be having children if you keep acting like this,” Obi-Wan muttered.

“We have nothing else to speak about, I want nothing to do with you besides the unfortunate accident we’ve been the victims of,” Anakin scowled. “Whatever legal matters there is to discuss, Obi-Wan is the one to contact. I’ll be at the sonograms but I’ll make sure not to upset anyone. The only one I’ll be there to see is my baby.”

“Fine by me.” She grabbed her purse and stormed out without another word, slamming the door in the same way she had over ten years ago.

“Ugh,” Anakin screamed, sitting down. “I hate her.”

“There are certainly a lot of potent feelings between the two of you,” Obi-Wan said delicately. “Enough so that I might recommend some joint therapy sessions.”

“Hate is a very powerful emotion and I’m not having therapy with that cold-hearted snake,” he grabbed his things and headed out. “ _ Good night,  _ Obi-Wan.”

“Good night, Anakin.” Obi-Wan sighed as he took out his phone and sent two text messages.

* * *

“Jobal?”

“Shmi!” Jobal exclaimed, a spark of excitement bursting in her voice. “Oh, my goodness, it’s been far too long.”

“Yes, I know, after the children…” Shmi trailed off and sighed into the phone. “Well, I’m sure you remember.”

“How could I forget?” Jobal retorted in a somber manner. “I was very sorry that we lost contact.”

“As am I. I’m sure Padmé’s told you the news by now? About the, ah, mutual grandchild?”

Jobal sighed. “It was a very…  _ fun  _ conversation. I take it from what I heard that neither of them are handling the situation correctly and like competent adults?”

“Ani’s been chomping at the bit for full custody,” Shmi sighed, “It’s very unpleasant, and reminding me of what I went through with the Jinn family. What about Padmé?”

“Well, she is very determined to turn Anakin’s attentions to the possibility of having a new procedure with his surrogate and forget about her,” Jobal grimaced.

“Honestly,” Shmi groaned. “The two of them haven’t matured past what happened in high school, we should have forced them to see each other again and talk things out.”

“I regret not doing that, but Padmé was hurting so much… I felt bad about pressuring her and she threw herself at her studies, I… I should have tried harder. I always knew we would have a grandchild together, Shmi, just not on these terms and with them trying to push each other away,” Jobal confessed.

Shmi sighed, turning the pages of her son’s senior yearbook. Homecoming, Prom, the Cutest Couple superlatives. “Has there been anyone else for her? Since…”

“No one that compared to the relationship she had with Anakin. I believe she tried with a classmate from law school, Rush something, but it didn’t work out,” Jobal dismissed it. “Anakin, however, was constantly seen with the same woman, Ana or what was her name. What happened?”

“Are you talking about Anne? His surrogate? Or Amee?”

“Amee! Yes. I knew her name started with an ‘A’. Very tall, very blonde and beautiful. They were together for a few years, weren’t they?” She asked curiously.

“Yes, but she wanted to do things the traditional way, marriage,  _ then _ babies. And he wasn’t in love with her in that way, so he broke things off,” Shmi explained. “He was planning this whole surrogacy business so that he wouldn’t have to worry about the possibility of a custody battle. I assume Padmé had the same thought?”

Jobal hummed in agreement. “Yes and the fact that she didn’t find anyone that she wanted to share this responsibility with. I know it might seem very hard to believe, given how explosive this reunion has been, but she never forgot him. Not truly.” 

“Hmmm.” Shmi traced one of the pictures, looking at the two of them leaning against each other. “Out of curiosity, the sperm donor she originally chose…did he look like my son?”

“Change the academic background from CalTech to MIT and I would have thought it was Anakin’s donation,” Jobal snorted. “Her whole catalog was based on very specific requirements. Anakin’s?”

“All petite brunettes with dark eyes and Ivy League educations. Quite a few lawyers too.” A slow smile began to grow on Shmi’s face. “They still have feelings for each other.”

“This baby is a miracle. It should be bringing them together, not…  _ this.  _ Whatever this ridiculous dispute is,” Jobal claimed. “This is their chance to make things right. To sit down and discuss what happened and why it happened. I never understood. It was all so sudden, so painful… I still wonder about it at times.”

“If they’re not going to do something about this, we might have to do it for them.”

“I thought about locking them somewhere and not letting them leave until they have their problems sorted out,” Jobal said bluntly. “But my daughter  _ is  _ pregnant and I don’t want anything to happen. She’s barely into her first trimester.”

“I understand that, but things are only going to get more complicated the longer this goes without the two of them talking.”

“Especially if this is taken to Family Court. I can’t imagine them being wrapped up in hearings until this baby comes. That is not how you want to live a pregnancy. Your first one!” Jobal exclaimed. “This is a time to plan for the nursery. A baby shower. Finding names for a boy and girl. Preparing a maternity shoot. All these sweet, unforgettable moments they won’t get if they keep butting heads. It’s incredibly frustrating.”

Shmi sighed. “I have to hope the first sonogram will be a wakeup call for both of them. That seeing the baby will make them realize that this is bigger than what happened when they were children.”

“You really think they will let their grudges go?” Jobal asked, unsure that a simple sonogram would help, given the state of their relationship.

“I think it’ll be a step, but we undeniably have a lot of work ahead of us.”

“What if we organize a family dinner? We are not strangers to each other, and we have to show them that this is a good thing. That we support them and we are here for them. Maybe seeing both families come together is another step,” Jobal suggested.

“It would certainly require them to behave. Or at least watch their language, Ani’s been calling her the she-devil ever since he found out.”

Jobal sighed, rolling her eyes. “Padmé hasn’t been nice either. A lot of ‘jackass’ and ‘jerk’, among other things. We’re their mothers, we have to make them behave. At least make them see this behavior is not acceptable.”

“Maybe we should make a coffee date to talk about this face-to-face? Phone calls are so impersonal, and I would love to see you.”

“Oh, yes please!” Jobal beamed. “Like old times. I’ll text you the details of this adorable bakery I go to on the weekends with my granddaughters!”

“Sounds lovely, I can’t wait.”

“Who knows… maybe this will all work out and we’ll be a family.”

“That’s all we can hope for at this point. Though it might take another miracle.”

“The first one has already happened and we weren’t counting. We can always dream of another. It was good speaking with you, Shmi, I’m really, really happy you called.”

“I’m glad that you answered. I’ll see you soon.”


	5. Parent Trapped

“Deep breath and hold it,” Dr. Che instructed, and Padmé obeyed. Sitting in the chair by the doctor’s desk, Saché shook her head.

“This is going to get you in trouble when An- I mean, Mr. Skywalker finds out you did this without him,” she warned. Padmé glared at her friend in a way that said she didn’t want legal advice at this particular moment.

This was for her. Just for her. She could always have another sonogram with Anakin, but she wanted at least one moment of this pregnancy to be about her. The way it should have been from the beginning.

“Well,” Dr. Che started, giving a nervous laugh as a black and white picture appeared on the screen. “Hmm. Interesting,” she muttered as she passed the wand over Padmé’s stomach. “You want to hear the heartbeats, Madam Mayor?”

“Did you say heartbeats?” Padmé echoed, releasing her breath. “As in plural?”

Dr. Che nodded as she pulled the screen closer. “You see these two little white things over here?” She waved over to the center of the screen. “It’s twins,” she said softly.

“Oh, someone is really not going to be happy about this,” Saché muttered to herself, cringing as she imagined the riot Anakin would make when he discovered that she’d scheduled a sonogram without him. It was bad enough that she and Obi-Wan were trying to coordinate and find a simple, clear strategy that would not lead them to spend the next several months in Court, but their attitudes didn’t help. She needed to text Obi-Wan so they could prepare for the fallout.

“Or maybe this is exactly what we needed,” Padmé countered bluntly, still transfixed by the images. “We can each walk away with one child and there doesn’t have to be anything more to it.” Even as she said it, she knew how callous it made her sound, but she was so tired of fighting him at every turn. She didn’t believe he’d actually accepted their custody agreement, he was just waiting for her to let her guard down. Maybe this was the compromise they actually needed, one that would get them out of each other’s lives forever.

Along with one of her children. And just like that, the moment was ruined all over again.

“Padmé, please, you can’t be serious,” Saché scolded.

Dr. Che cleared her throat and placed the wand in its place, giving Padmé a towel to clean the gel. “I’ll record a DVD and print some pictures. I’m going to write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins,” she was clearly uncomfortable as she walked away.

“You are not in your right mind,” Saché added as the doctor left. “Do you hear yourself?”

“If you’ve got a better idea, Saché, I’m open to suggestions, but from where I’m standing, trying to share two children with that sanctimonious prick is going to be even worse than our current arrangement!”

Saché shook her head, disappointment written on her face. “I’ll be waiting outside,” she said, turning on her heel and abandoning the examination room. Padmé sighed and curled in on herself, fighting off the urge to cry from the combination of hormones and stress. Two babies. She was having  _ two _ babies. With Anakin.

Once upon a time, nothing would have made her happier. And then she’d screwed up, and he’d left her behind, and now…

Now, they both hated each other. How the hell were they supposed to raise a pair of kids together?

* * *

“I don’t care what you have to do, just  _ do it _ .”

The shouts would scare anyone that would step foot in the hallway. Even Darra had extended her pause just so she didn’t go deaf.

“Anakin, I  _ can’t  _ just tell the judge that she is an unfit mother. No judge will give you sole custody without enough evidence to sustain your case. She’s the  _ Mayor of New York  _ and her record is spotless, and  _ do not raise your voice at me, _ ” Obi-Wan argued back, as this back and forth went for hours with no end or solution in sight. “If you two would just  _ talk _ …”

“I  _ talked  _ and  _ what did she say?  _ She would share the calendar of the sonograms only to lie through her teeth about it,” Anakin growled and Obi-Wan had never seen him lose his temper like this. “She went to the  _ first  _ sonogram. The  _ first  _ time we are supposed to hear the heartbeat, see a picture without really understanding what’s there but you  _ know  _ it’s there, and she took that from me and I am not tolerating this. Do whatever the hell you want!” He banged his fist on the glass desk and Obi-Wan was sure he heard it crack underneath.

“Stop for a moment and think about this from  _ her _ point of view,” the lawyer offered slowly. “Any time the two of you are together, you fight. It may have simply been a moment of her wanting to enjoy a moment without that… tension.”

“Oh, and how am I supposed to get the same luxury when she’s the one that has to be there? Why don’t  _ you  _ see from my point of view?” Anakin challenged. “I’m not the only one who creates tension. She’s as responsible as I am.”

“You do nothing to alleviate it.”

“Neither does she!” He snapped back and shook his head. “You know, maybe this was a bad idea and you might not be the right person to represent me on this,” Anakin scowled. “You’re too close to this personally and I need someone to fight for me, not against me.”

“This is not just about you! My God, man, you have a  _ child _ on the way! That should be the focus of this! What is best for the child! I’ve said this before, and I hope it won’t fall on deaf ears this time, the behavior from both of you has been completely inappropriate! You’ve both been selfish, petty, and childish, and for what? Hurtful words that were spoken over a decade ago in a time of high stress and irrational hormones? If this mistake had happened with any woman other than your ex-girlfriend, would you be this antagonistic?”

“Any other woman would have common sense,” Anakin sat down, an enraged look still on his face. “You don’t know how it went down ten years ago, don’t play it off like it was nothing. She ruined me, and I am not allowing it again.”

“You do realize that the more you two fight, the more likely it is that she’ll be at risk for complications? Possibly even a miscarriage?”

“If I stop fighting for my rights, what will I have left? Hope that her good heart remembers that I exist and want to be a part of this? Let her decide how much I am going to be a part of  _ my  _ baby’s life?” Anakin asked, desperate. “I can’t just sit on my hands and do nothing.”

“I’m not suggesting you do nothing. I’m suggesting you stop treating her like she’s an enemy.”

Anakin groaned, running his hands through his already messy hair. “Do whatever you want, then,” he said hotly. “Just leave. Leave me alone and tell Darra that I don’t want to be bothered.”

“Alright,” Obi-Wan sighed, and turned to go, rubbing at his temples as he went. As soon as he was a safe distance from Anakin’s office, he pulled out his phone to see another text from Saché Gatanne.

**«Things just got infinitely worse. Call me ASAP. Potentially include the mothers.»**

**«Things can get worse?»**

**«Twins.»**

_ Ah, fuck. _

**«I’ll call Shmi. You call Jobal. Let’s meet on neutral ground to discuss how we are going to handle this.»**

**«On it. Fucking idiots.»**

_ Understatement of the decade. _

**«He’s pissed off about the sonogram appointment. He’s angry. And hurt. It’s not a good combo.»**

**«She’s suggesting they each take a kid, just so they never have to interact again! I thought the pregnancy brain was a late stage of the game!»**

“Are you alright, Obi-Wan? You look ill!” Darra questioned, on her way to her desk, a cup of hot tea in her hand.

“The usual. Oh, and he’s in a mood, so… he doesn’t want to be bothered,” Obi-Wan pointed.

“ _ What?  _ He has a day full of meetings!” Darra hissed. “You know, you better solve this before I lose my sanity,” the assistant huffed and stalked off.

**«For the love of all that’s holy, don’t let her tell him that.»**

**«I’ll drag her along to this meeting somehow. Maybe the power of two moms and two lawyers will be enough to get through to her.»**

**«If you say so.»**

**«I’m open to suggestions if you have a better idea.»**

**«I’m out of ideas. Nothing works!!! Let’s set up the meeting and see how it goes.»**

* * *

“Can I please know why we’re going to a bakery on a Sunday afternoon for no reason at all?” Padmé asked irritably as she followed Saché inside. “I…” she trailed off at the sight of Shmi Skywalker sitting in a corner booth. “Oh. I see.”

Jobal followed Shmi’s look and smiled. “Over here, darling,” she waved, as if it was something as natural as a casual breakfast. Shmi sipped on her cappuccino.

“Hi, Ms. Skywalker,” Padmé mumbled, suddenly feeling eighteen years old again as she sank down into one of the chairs.

“It’s Lars now, Madam Mayor, I got married a couple of years ago,” Shmi commented with a polite smile.

“Oh. My belated congratulations, then.”

“Thank you,” Shmi nodded as she sipped on her beverage again, exchanging a glance with Jobal and Saché.

“Madam Mayor, your menu,” Obi-Wan’s voice sounded behind her as he extended a menu to her. “We’ve all ordered already.”

“I’m suddenly not feeling very hungry, now that I know this was all a calculated trap,” Padmé replied even as she took the menu. “What are you going to tell me? That I’m being irrational and immature about this?”

“No, that has been said enough,” Jobal sighed as she stirred her tea. “This is to appeal to your rational side, dear.”

“Padmé, from a legal standpoint, both Obi-Wan and I are trying to avoid things to get messy. We don’t want to go to court. It would damage your image. Anakin’s. Everyone involved,” Saché started. “We really want to find a middle ground. Neither of you is going to get what you want, so let’s push past that and find a solution that is pleasant to both sides.”

“I’ve already spoken to Anakin. Obi-Wan has as well. I even convinced him to take this weekend and spend it with his father in the Hamptons,” Shmi said, hands cradling her cappuccino.

“His father?” Padmé repeated with a frown.

“Yes. Qui-Gon reached out to Anakin during his MIT years and they’ve managed to establish a good relationship, which brought a lot of positive points to Anakin’s life and personality,” Shmi explained. “It has been good.”

“A shame it hasn’t reflected in his behavior—ow!” Padmé winced as Saché elbowed her in the arm and Shmi sighed.

“You’ve been just as horrendous as he has. And I’m saying that as both your friend  _ and _ your lawyer.”

“While I don’t condone some of the irrational decisions my son has made, Padmé, doing a sonogram without the baby’s father is not in good taste,” Shmi said, pursing her lips as her own maternal instincts kicked in. “I know this is not a situation either of you wanted to be in, but you are going to carry these children. You are not going to miss one day of it. Anakin is not going to have that chance and he’s fighting so he can be there in some of the milestones. Like the first time you hear a heartbeat. Or see the baby. Or discover it’s  _ twins. _ ”

“Maybe I didn’t want to have those moments with someone who hates me!”

“He doesn’t either, sweetheart, I’m sure, but unlike you, he can’t simply ask you to leave the room to have an ultrasound, can he?” Jobal asked.

“You and Anakin have a whole file of excuses you can use. However, in eight months, there will be two babies that don’t give a damn about them,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “Trust me. Babies don’t care about excuses. Or if you are wearing a very expensive shirt when they decide to pee on you,” he said. “They want parents. You and Anakin? Neither one of you is a fit parent at the moment.”

“He’s the one who’s insisting on drawing this out and turning it into a battle! I know I screwed up after the pregnancy scare in high school, but he was the one who decided to completely leave me behind without a word for ten years and then decided that he has the only claim on these babies!”

“Padmé, while Anakin is wrong about the legal actions he wants to take, he’s not the only one to blame in this situation and you need to make yourself responsible for your actions as well,” Shmi said, probably being harsher than what she intended. “I have advised Anakin against the legal suits and I’m very close to having him drop it, but you don’t cooperate. Asking him to just do it with his surrogate and leave you alone, is not a good example of maturity either. He’s acting out because he feels it’s the only way he can be present. You have all the power right now, you’re carrying those babies. He can’t do anything. You asked him to redo his procedure and leave you alone. You refused to talk to him for two weeks. You lied about your first sonogram. We can point fingers, if you want to, but I don’t think we have the time to do that,” Shmi scoffed. “He left you—Padmé, you were always very dear to me, but you’re blaming Anakin for moving on with his life, when you had broken his heart? I’m sorry, but no—”

“I was going to apologize at graduation, and he wasn’t there!” Padmé blurted out tearfully. “I wanted to fix things, I knew I screwed up!”

“What’s done is done,” Shmi said, sounding final. “He had to move on. He didn’t have a choice.”

Saché cleared her throat. “Obi-Wan and I thought that… you could give him a copy of the DVD and the ultrasound scans tomorrow,” she said, returning the original subject of their meeting. “Stop the lying and the legal plots. Obi-Wan and I are working on a custody arrangement, until we have one, focus on being healthy, sharing the appointments with him because it’s all he really asks for at this moment. Let’s bury this feud. It’s not good for anyone. And under  _ no _ circumstances should you bring up the idea of splitting up the twins.”

“Yes, Padmé, that was inexcusable,” Jobal patted her daughter’s hand as Shmi shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I shouldn’t have let you watch so many movies when you were younger,” she tried to joke.

Padmé groaned and buried her face in her hands. “I didn’t know what else to do, I was trying to avoid a situation where my kids grow up needing a buttload of therapy.”

“If we do this right, they won’t,” Saché reassured her. “If they’re born with their parents biting each other’s head off anytime they’re in the same room… well, that’s different.”

“Which means it’s important to find a solution during the pregnancy,” Obi-Wan added.

“And we can start with a sign of truce,” Saché stared at her friend and employer. “Tomorrow.”

“I’m busy tomorrow,” Padmé reminded her. “We have that meeting with the Governor’s office.”

“Tomorrow, lunchtime. You have  _ plenty  _ of time. It’s a ten-minute drive,” Saché insisted. “I’ve already asked Yané to block that part of your day.” 

“Why do I have to give it to him in person, why not just give it to Obi-Wan now?”

“Because you can’t avoid him forever,” Jobal pointed out.

“And when the children are born and the custody is in place, you will have to do a lot of drop-offs,” Shmi added, sighing as she finished her drink and pastry. “It’s like practice.” 

“ _ Fine _ ,” Padmé groaned. “I’ll do the goddamn drop-off.”

“That’s the spirit,” Saché rolled her eyes.

* * *

“Anakin?” Darra opened the door, and nervously looked for her boss, who was sitting at his desk, focusing on his screens. He had a laptop and two individual monitors setup.

“Yes?” He asked, absentmindedly. 

“There’s someone here for you,” she said warily as she pushed the door a bit wider to let his  _ visitor  _ enter.

“Wh—Oh,” he glanced at the doors and did a double-take. “Oh,” he repeated as he blocked his screens and closed the laptop lid. “Thank you, Darra, you can leave.”

Glancing between them, Darra stepped out quietly and closed the door behind her. Padmé sat down on the couch closest to Anakin’s desk and pulled out a manila envelope, sliding it onto the glass. “There’s a DVD and still photos of the sonogram in there,” she mumbled, avoiding eye contact with him. “And I’m… I’m sorry. It was a shitty move on my part to do it without you.”

_ Hello to you too,  _ he thought to himself. “Thank you,” he said instead as he grabbed the manila envelope, putting it in one of his drawers and closing it. “Has the Doctor said anything important or that at least I should know?” He laced his fingers, avoiding drumming nervously on his armrests. 

“The universe is apparently not done fucking with us,” she answered. “It’s twins.”

“Obi-Wan told me last night,” Anakin said. “It might have been the fertility treatment you went through for the insemination. It’s common.”

“Well, regardless, everything else is apparently fine. They’re healthy, I’m healthy. Mostly. Aside from being on the verge of a mental breakdown.”

“That’s good, about the babies being healthy, of course. About you, I’m sure the city can understand if you need to take a couple of days to rest.”

“Your mom says you had a guys’ weekend with your dad. How was that?”

He raised his eyebrows.  _ Are we really doing this?  _ “It was alright, he was in New York this weekend and had the time. He’s in the military, so he doesn’t have a lot of free time and is mostly in Washington.”

“Well, I’m glad you had the time to see him. I remember how much that bothered you when we were kids that he wasn’t around.” She picked at her nails.

“It’s not like I call him Dad, or anything, he did abandon me before I was born. But we have a good relationship now. He helped me with Lightspeed when I was starting and he cares, so,” he pointed out.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Well, I have to go. I’ll, um, I’ll see you.”

“I have work to do too,” he said, awkwardly shifting in his chair. “Thank you for the DVD.”

“You’re welcome.” She stood and headed for the door, lingering for a moment with her fingers on the handle. “I really am sorry.”

“Yeah,” he pursed his lips, not wanting to say something that could ruin the ‘truce’ they had just quietly agreed on. “Thanks.”

As she left the office and he waited until she had the time to get in the elevator and go down, he opened the drawer and took the manila envelope out, setting it on top of his desk. He didn’t open it right away and called his mother.

“ _ Hi, Ani, how are you?” _

“Hmm, Padmé just stopped by,” he said, drawing invisible circles on the envelope, his voice shaking.

Shmi sighed. “ _ Did you two fight? _ ”

“No, it was awkward but… no. She came by to drop off the sonogram DVD and pictures,” his voice broke at the end and he had to stop talking.

“ _ Ani?”  _ She called quietly.

“Do you want to see it with me?” He asked, voice eventually cracking as he noticed tears falling on the envelope.

“ _ Yes, I’ll be right there, sweetheart. _ ”

“Thanks,” he whispered, ending the call and brushing his tears away.

Picking the manila envelope, he sighed sadly, leaning back. It wasn’t what he had dreamed of. But it was something.


	6. Baby Steps

“Mom, please, I’m tired, between the Oktoberfests and the Halloween celebrations, there are a million things that end up needing my attention in some way, I don’t have time for this” Padmé said sulkily.

“It has been a while since you spent time with the family, Padmé, you need to take some time off too. Have you been resting, like Dr. Che advised?” Jobal asked.

“I’m sleeping and taking my vitamins, what else is needed?”

“Rest,” her mother insisted. “It’s important to cut back work. Just cuddle on your couch, watch a movie or two. Read a book. Padmé, you’re pregnant. You need that. You can’t run around like you normally would. Everything in moderation.”

“Who am I supposed to be cuddling?” Padmé deadpanned. “I’m single, remember?”

“Honey, you could have gotten a cat,” Jobal sighed as she parked the car. After a beat, she eyed her daughter. “Have you spoken with Anakin since you dropped the DVD off?”

“No, and it’s better that way. We don’t fight when we don’t talk.”

“How long has it been since the sonogram?”

“Mom, please, I don’t want to talk about Anakin right now,” Padmé groaned as she got out of the car. “I just want to get through the rest of my pregnancy without any more incidents.”

Jobal sighed as it wasn’t a good sign that Padmé was in that mindset. Not what after she and Shmi had planned for that afternoon. “Can I ask you to keep an open mind, at least?”

“Okay, fine, for the girls’ sake.”

“Good,” Jobal pushed the doors of the house open, and voices were immediately heard. Her nieces, exclusively. They were giggling like mad and squealing, more voices were laughing, with happy and easy conversations floating through the air. “Remember. Open mind.”

“Mom, what did you… do…” Padmé trailed off as she saw Ryoo and Pooja climbing over the lanky frame of her unwanted sperm donor.

“Auntie Padmé, we’re in love,” Ryoo squealed in delight and everyone else just burst out laughing, along with Anakin, who, even as he saw Padmé, couldn’t help but be infected by the girls’ sheer happiness and innocence.

“But he’s marrying me,” Pooja said stubbornly, clinging to Anakin’s neck like a vine.

“Oh, I see,” Padmé said, stifling a laugh of her own. “I thought you were into older women, Anakin. What made you switch to cradle robbing?”

“Ah, they are the most beautiful girls I have ever met,” he said, smiling brightly at both little girls clinging at him. “And they have been badgering my mother for my hand in marriage!”

“I feel very divided,” Shmi snickered, amused. “However girls, your Auntie is right, he’s a bit older than you are.”

“I don’t care,” Pooja stated bluntly.

Anakin snickered and turned to Darred. “I think you need to prepare for her teenage years.”

“You’re telling me,” Darred muttered. “Like her mother, that one.”

“You didn’t object when I picked you,” Sola retorted as she approached her husband with drinks in hand. “Hey, Padmé. Non-alcoholic cider for you.”

“Thank you,” Padmé took it from her sister, blushing a little as she remembered her tenth birthday party. Anakin and Shmi had just moved to town, so her parents had required her to invite the new kid. Anakin had taken one look at her and said, in the most serious voice possible, ‘I’m going to marry you one day.’

_ If only he knew then how fucked up we’d be... _

“Girls, why don’t you leave Anakin alone?” Sola shook her head.

“Mommy!” Ryoo said. “Don’t embarrass us. He’s cute. And rich. Go away!”

Anakin snickered. “She has her priorities straight,” he quipped lightly.

“Regular little gold-digger,” Darred agreed, picking up his eldest. “Come help me make the popcorn for the movie.”

“We’re doing a movie?” Padmé asked, looking at her family curiously.

“The girls insisted,” Anakin shrugged as he managed to untangle himself from Pooja, settling her at his side, brushing her blonde curls back. “ _ Across the Stars, _ ” he said, cringing internally because that movie had a  _ lot  _ of meaning. Meaning he preferred not to think about.

“I thought kids your age were into animated movies with adjectives for titles, not cheesy space operas that get midnight screenings,” Padmé teased.

“Why, does the movie bother you?” Sola asked with a teasing smile.

“I’m just wondering if it’s age-appropriate or not.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Sola dismissed her. “Let them watch. I’m pretty sure they’ll fall asleep midway through.”

“Suit yourself.” Padmé drained her cup and made a beeline for the biggest, comfiest chair facing the TV. “I’m not getting out of this unless I have to pee, and God help anyone who tries to take it from me when I do have to pee.”

“Be scared of the pregnant lady,” Ruwee teased and kissed his youngest daughter’s forehead.

“You’re staying with Anakin?” Sola asked Pooja, who cuddled to Anakin’s side. The little girl nodded, and Anakin smiled. “You don’t mind?” She extended him a soft, white blanket.

“No,” he replied, throwing the blanket over his and Pooja’s legs. “It’s fine.”

“You’re going to be a great dad,” Sola whispered, winking at him, before chasing after her husband. Jobal and Shmi had similarly gone into the kitchen, leaving Ruwee to pick an armchair next to a bookshelf.

“This is the second trimester now, isn’t it?” he asked, looking between Anakin and Padmé. “The babies are due in May?”

“May fourth,” Padmé confirmed. “But it’s not quite the second trimester yet, I’m on week ten of forty-two.”

Anakin remained quiet, playing with Pooja’s blonde curls as she snuggled up to him. There wasn’t much he could say. He knew nothing of what was happening with the pregnancy, so he could participate in the conversation. The last thing he was aware of, was the first sonogram. Per his mother and Obi-Wan’s insistence, he had dropped the legal suits he was planning and waited. He didn’t know what he was waiting for but he was tired.

“Ah, there’s still so long to go,” Ruwee mused.

“Yeah,” Padmé looked awkwardly at Anakin. “And the whole twin thing adds a new level of complication.”

“I hope you are taking care of yourself,” her father pointed out, glancing at the younger man too, but he was entertaining Pooja with his phone, looking oblivious to their conversation.

“I’m fine, Daddy, really. Though Mom thinks I should have a cat.”

“Company  _ is  _ good,” Ruwee agreed. “You should think about that.”

“I don’t know, I think if I’m going to get a pet, I’d prefer a dog.”

“They are better to have around kids,” her father nodded. “I know a Golden Retriever breeder. I can ask him if he has puppies or will have them in the future.”

“Anakin?”

“Yes?” He asked, looking up and handing his phone to Pooja.

“My parents think I should get a pet, and Dad’s suggesting a Golden Retriever. Do you have any objections to the twins growing up with one?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have anything against it, but it will be your house, you have to make that decision for yourself. I had a Golden until last year, she died of complications with cancer,” he said. “Actually, Mr. Naberrie, if you could put me in touch with the breeder… I’ve been thinking about getting myself another one for a while now,” he turned to Ruwee with a small smile.

“Why not just share one dog, like you’re sharing the babies?” Pooja asked.

“I am already sharing the babies,” he booped her nose. “I don’t have to share my dog too,” he chuckled.

“But then how will the babies know which dog is which?”

“They will have different names and different addresses, they will get used to them and know to also tell their personalities apart,” he explained. “They will be smart babies.”

“I should hope so, given our combined IQs. Besides, I don’t think we need to deal with the handoff of dogs in addition to kids.”

“But then why don’t you just all live togeth—”

“Movie time!” Sola said as she returned, a little too loudly and a little too cheerfully. “Everyone ready?”

“Yes,” Anakin nodded.

“Please,” Padmé added, taking another glass of cider from her mother as Jobal moved past her, and endlessly thankful for the interruption.

Darred took charge of the remote, pressing play and dimming the lights as the opening titles started to play. Anakin sighed. The last time he saw this movie was the weekend before their pregnancy scare. He still didn’t know why he agreed to this blatant attempt to bring them into the same room. Padmé was equally uneasy, picking at her nails and avoiding looking at the screen as much as possible. He had forgotten how cheesy and ridiculous the movie could be and he sneakily took his phone and started checking his emails.

_ Clink. Thud.  _

“Padmé?!?”

* * *

“Miss Naberrie?” A soft voice called her gently. “Miss Naberrie, if you hear me, please nod your head.”

“Ugh,” Padmé managed a small nod. “Is the movie over?”

There were a few sighs of relief and someone huffed. “Oh, it is. It was over from the moment you scared the crap out of all of us,” it vaguely sounded like her sister.

“You fainted, honey.” That was Shmi’s voice. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I swear, I felt fine,” Padmé protested as she opened her eyes.

Dr. Che smiled at her. “There you are, you had everyone worried,” behind her, leaning against the wall, was a very tense Anakin. “Your blood sugar dipped and you showed slight traces of dehydration. I want to keep you here tonight just for observation, I prefer to be overzealous with my pregnant girls.”

“Can’t really argue with that,” Padmé conceded. “Can I at least get another blanket though? It’s really cold in here.”

“I’ll ask the nurse to bring you one,” Dr. Che said. “I’m sorry, but only one of you can stay with her,” she turned to the family apologetically

“Anakin should stay,” Sola pointed out.

“Yes, I agree,” Jobal nodded.

“If Padmé wants me to stay,” Anakin replied, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“I don’t mind.” Her gaze flickered back to the doctor. “Can I speak with you privately for a second, Dr. Che?”

“I’ll get the blanket,” Anakin sighed, turning around and leaving the hospital room, giving the rest of the family time to say their goodbyes.

“Tell the girls I’m okay, and I’ll see them this weekend,” Padmé told her parents and sister. “Shmi, thank you, this evening was… thoughtful. Maybe we’ll take a raincheck sometime. Good night, everyone.”

“Take care of yourself, sweetheart. Listen to the doctor.”

“Yes, Mom.”

As they all left, Dr. Che eyed her patient curiously. “What can I do for you, Miss Naberrie?”

“Is there any chance you could have an ultrasound machine brought in, Dr. Che?”

“You’re worried about the babies?” She asked softly.

“Well, I don’t think it would hurt to check on them, but it’s more to do with Anakin. I… he deserves a chance to experience the ‘first’ ultrasound properly. And I denied him that.”

“I see,” she nodded. “I can ask them to bring an ultrasound machine, so we can check on the babies and have him see them properly. He was so worried about you, he carried you inside and I thought he would faint after you.”

“It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them, I assure you.”

“I don’t know about that, but it’s not my place,” Dr. Che smiled before leaving the room and nearly running into Anakin. “Mr. Skywalker, I am having an ultrasound machine brought into the room.”

“Oh?” He sounded surprised. “I thought the babies were fine?”

“It doesn’t hurt to check,” she winked at Padmé before leaving and he closed the door, approaching the bed with another blanket.

“Here. This should do,” he said and handed the blanket to her.

“Thanks.” She took it and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Hospital gowns are  _ awful,  _ I can feel the air conditioning all the way down to my butt. And why do they need it so cold, it’s October!”

“We can probably ask Dr. Che to turn off the air conditioning in the room,” he suggested, sitting on one of the chairs at the side of the bed. “How do you feel?”

“Little groggy, little hungry. But mostly okay.”

“I don’t know if you can eat, but let’s wait for Dr. Che and ask her,” he sighed and hesitated, frowning. “I don’t want to tell you how to live your life. Far from it, but maybe you should take it easy. For your health and the babies, of course.”

“Assuming you’re still inhaling a bag of sour cream and onion chips every day, I really don’t think you can really talk about health,” she said, trying to tease him. “But yeah, I’ll ask Dr. Che.”

“If I did that, my personal trainer would punish me severely,” he cracked a little smile. “I think he could do a pregnancy plan for you. He already offered, but I didn’t know if you would be interested in it. I’ve read it helps. With the birth.”

“You mean like, a training plan? Or a birth plan?”

“Training plan,” he pointed out. 

“Okay, good, because I think my doula would cut a bitch if someone tried to muscle in on my birth plan.”

“Right,” he nodded slowly. “I’ll give him your number, or vice versa. You can set it up with him. Rex is a good guy.”

“Cool. And I’ll send your information to Teckla so you can be in the loop on the birth plan. Because I’ve been a jerk, and I’m gonna stop that now.”

“It’s appreciated. I’ve also dropped all legal action I was doing or threatening to do. I don’t know if Saché had told you.”

“She might have mentioned something to that effect, after talking me down from proposing a parent trap arrangement. Which I admit was an absolutely terrible idea, and I regret ever having it.”

“One for you and one for me?” He raised his eyebrows. “That’s completely insane and oh God, I don’t want our children to be anything like Lindsay Lohan.”

“Hayley Mills!” she corrected with a huff. “Why would you pick the remake over the original? Oh, never mind, you’re right, it  _ was _ insane. I was just angry with you and wanted it to be over.”

He laughed. “I’m glad we agree and are over these crazy schemes.”

“Well, I mean, aside from the fact that the real reason Dr. Che is bringing up the ultrasound machine is that I’m trying to make amends for having the first one without you.”

“Thank you,” he said, surprised. “That’s… that’s sweet of you.”

“They’re your kids too. You should get to be there, regardless of what there is in our past. And you will be from now on.”

Anakin looked at her, surprise coloring his features. He really wasn’t expecting this grown-up attitude. He wasn’t expecting anything, really. It has been a couple of difficult weeks but whatever it was that made her see reason, he was grateful. “That means a lot.”

A faint flush covered her cheeks as Dr. Che returned, a few orderlies helping her wheel in the ultrasound machine. “Everything still okay?”

“Fine.”

“We just have a few questions, but we can ask them after the ultrasound.”

“Okay, then, let’s get started. Padmé, you already know how this works.”

“I do.” Padmé sighed, pulling up her hospital gown to expose her stomach. “It’s freezing in here, by the way. Can we do something about that?”

“Of course, I will see if we can change that,” she placed the gel on her stomach and prepared the wand. “You are barely, barely, barely showing. But there is something here,” she chuckled.

“That would be the extra kid, wouldn’t it?” Padmé deadpanned.

Dr. Che laughed and Anakin snickered. “The fact that you are petite and pregnant with twins, will probably make you show earlier than normal,” she quipped as she looked at the screen, the black and white picture shifting as she moved the wand. “There we go.” Anakin leaned forward as he watched the screen with close attention. “Everything looks well, let’s hear the heartbeats,” she touched a couple of buttons and a rapid  _ thump-thump-thump-thump  _ filled the room. Anakin bit back a gasp as he heard the sound. He had heard on the DVD but this was a different experience. “They’re perfect, but they need their mommy to take more care, can she do that?” Dr. Che raised her eyebrows at Padmé.

“I thought I  _ was _ taking care of myself, you might have to be more specific about what that requires,” Padmé retorted, but her heart wasn’t really in it. She was more transfixed by the expression on Anakin’s face as he watched the screen with their babies.

“They’re so cute,” he breathed. “I mean, I can barely see them, I mean, they are tiny but… I just know they’re cute,” a light blush crept to his cheeks and he shifted awkwardly on his seat.

“Of course they’re cute,” Padmé agreed with a smile. “Look at who their dad is.”

“As I was saying, the most obvious point would be your stress factors,” Dr. Che said. “I strongly recommend delegating more of your work to the deputy mayors as the pregnancy progresses, and to make sure you’re maintaining a healthy diet and exercise.”

“I think we got the exercise part covered already,” Anakin commented.

“Sex doesn’t count, Mr. Skywalker.”

“That was not—no—”

“We’re not having sex!” Padmé blurted, her cheeks turning bright red.

“I meant my personal trainer can make a pregnancy plan for her to keep during the next couple of months,” Anakin cringed. “It wasn’t about sex.”

“Apologies, I misread the situation.”

“Entirely so,” he nodded. “We’re not together.”

“Definitely not,” Padmé agreed firmly.

“Again, I’m sorry for the confusion. I’ll have a printout ready to go when you’re discharged, to remind you what you should and shouldn’t be eating at this point, Padmé. There’s also the matter of maintaining a schedule, you need to eat regularly, not just when you feel like it.”

“I understand.”

“I will leave you to rest and I’ll check on you in the morning, before I discharge you,” Dr. Che handed Padmé paper towels to wipe her stomach clean and turned off the machine, setting it aside. “The nurses will come and get the machine in a little while.”

“Thank you, Dr. Che,” Padmé nodded as she started dabbing at the gel. “And please don’t forget the heat in here, I was serious about that.”

“I won’t, goodnight, you two. I’ll be on call if anything happens,” she nodded and stepped out, leaving the former couple alone. Padmé finished with the towels and balled them up, taking careful aim before throwing them at the wastebasket. The wad bounced off the rim and landed inside with a thunk.

“That might be the most athletic thing I’ve ever done,” she joked.

“You still suck at sports, huh?”

“Let’s just say there’s a reason none of my outreach programs feature clips of me playing sports with children. It wouldn’t be dignified to see the mayor get her ass kicked by ten-year-olds.”

Anakin chuckled. “I would have loved to see that,” he quipped before he felt the rustling of the envelope in his pocket. He had forgotten his mother had given  _ that  _ to him. He took it out and hesitated, glancing between it and Padmé.

“What is that?”

“Something my mom found on my old things. She’s moving to Manhattan to be closer to me and her grandchildren now. Plus Cliegg’s new commute is too long. It was about time,” he shrugged, thinking back to the significance of the contents in the envelope.

She took it from him nervously. “Anakin…”

“No,” he took it back. “I… it doesn’t matter now.”

“Then why bring it up?”

“She gave it to me this morning. This is the, uh,” he let out a small, empty laugh, “plan I made for our summer after graduation. It was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to give it to you after the ceremony. I had booked a week in LA, near the beach. I hate sand but you love the beach, so it was worth the sacrifice. Then I had a whole thing about going to Boston for a while and… you know…” he shrugged, “see some houses because it had been four years, we were ready to move in together, or so I thought,” he set the envelope in her bed. “The envelope has the whole  _ plan  _ written down, the tickets I canceled, and a few old listings. It was… no big deal.”

“Because I was a jerk,” she finished. “I got scared, and I screwed up everything…”

“It doesn’t matter now, Padmé. It has been over a decade,” he interrupted, rubbing at his temples. “It was not our finest moment.”

“It matters to me,” she said stubbornly. “After that day, the longer it went, the more I realized how much of it was my fault, but you were ghosting me, so I was planning this whole grand gesture for graduation, where I was going to apologize, and then you were just  _ gone _ .” 

“You had made yourself very clear and your words, they clung to me. You told me I didn’t think about the future, so that’s what I went and did. I contacted MIT to know if I could still participate in the early acceptance program and they were more than happy to include me at the last minute,” he explained, playing with an invisible thread in his jacket. “That week after our breakup was horrible. I was in a bad place and all I wanted was to  _ leave, _ ” he shrugged. “So I did.”

“I was wrong. I was wrong about so many things.”

“Dwelling on the past clearly doesn’t help us and we have other things to be focusing on,” Anakin sighed.

“Right, of course, I’m sorry.” She looked away awkwardly.

“Maybe… if you want... “ Anakin hesitated. “We can have lunch to talk about our next steps? Appointments, custody… all of that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, we can have lunch, I’m just not in the best frame of mind to make that plan right now. I’ll feel better in the morning. I think we both will.”

He got up from his seat and placed his hand against her forehead. “I’m sorry, I thought I heard you weren’t feeling well to make a  _ plan _ .”

“Shut up,” she groaned, rolling her eyes. “You shouldn’t be such an asshole to the woman carrying your children.”

Anakin laughed, pulling back and sitting back down. “She’s quite easy to rile up,” he said, amused. “Now rest, I have emails to look at,” he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“When was the last time your number of unread messages was at zero?” she asked as she settled into the pillows and pulled the blankets up to her chin. “Be honest, I won’t judge. God knows mine are probably just as bad.”

“Oh, God, I can’t even remember,” Anakin grimaced. “Ever since Lightspeed started to take off, I never again had my messages at 0. I have…” he squinted, staring at his screen and groaned, “two thousand and fifty messages.”

“Ugh,” she laughed sympathetically. “Have you considered making a program to sort through those?”

“Yes, it’s called Darra, but I gave her a day-off,” he smiled. “I am just going to read the most important ones. Darra will sort the rest of them out tomorrow.”

“Read them to me out loud,” she suggested. “They’ll probably confuse me so much that they’ll put me to sleep.”

“Hmm. Here’s one,” he smirked. “ _ Anakin, you postpone our meeting one more time and I’ll kill you and make it look like an accident. Love, Siri.  _ She’s always very nice to me.”

“Obi-Wan’s ex, Siri?”

“The one and only. She’s my EVP for Marketing and Consumer Business. A pain in the ass but great at her job. Hmm, here’s one:  _ Anakin, The R series needs to be discussed ASAP. The new programming team is ready to take the indications and we need to know what will be available to them and the deadline, plus, you need to select the Project Manager and what will be the prototype that we’ll launch first. Kit. _ ” 

“That’s more like it, keep going.”

“Well… let me see…  _ Board meeting. Monday. 2 pm. Do not bring chips,”  _ he smirked. “The ‘do not bring chips’ was capitalized’,” he continued, “ _ and please be nice to Windu. He’s an important key figure and you are constantly antagonizing him. It’s not good for my health, because I am the one that has to listen to his complaints. Be-ha-ve. Ben, _ ” Anakin snickered. “Windu represents my father’s interest and I can’t buy him out and he can’t do anything against me. So we’re in a process of getting along.”

“I think you’re missing the point, this was supposed to bore me to sleep, and you’re just making me more interested in your work drama.”

“Ben is my work drama,” he rolled his eyes. “Legally, I can’t read you the most specific emails about the R series programming details. And other emails are from contracts, admissions, the revenue of the live-aid launch. More board meeting details. The planning for the first Lightspeed’ Technology Summit. The launch of our Tech Hub. Expanding overseas…” She let out a small snore that he couldn’t quite tell if it was fake or real. “Padmé?” He looked up at her to see she had drifted off to sleep. Shaking his head, he stood and tucked the blanket around her, not wanting her to feel any cold.


	7. I Don’t Deal With My Feelings, I Eat Them

“Anakin?” Darra opened the door with a slight smile. “I have the Mayor here for you,” she raised her eyebrows. “She wasn’t on the schedule, however.”

Anakin raised his eyes from some coding he’d been entertaining himself with and smiled. “No, I know. She’s my lunch date. Can you make sure we’re not disturbed?”

“I can do that,” she nodded with a grin. “Do you want me to order you two anything?”

“Let her in and see what she would like,” he said.

“The twins want Chinese food,” Padmé’s voice wafted through the crack in the door. “Like, a full Chinese buffet.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Darra chuckled, stepping aside to let the petite brunette into Anakin’s office. Padmé was bundled up in a very heavy purple coat, or at least it seemed that way until she began to unbutton it and Anakin saw the curve of her stomach had gotten considerably bigger since the last time he’d seen it in close proximity.

“I’ve entered the eating my feelings phase,” she explained.

“Eating your feelings?” He questioned as he turned off his computer and led her to the couches. “It looks cute, either way,” and he felt the sudden urge to touch her, to caress that roundness because it was his babies too, but he knew it would cross a line.

“Yeah, the hormones are starting to go crazy, making me feel everything really strongly, and the only thing I have to answer those feelings is food. Nothing too weird yet though.”

“No cravings yet, then?” He guessed.

“No _weird_ cravings. Or did you not hear me just ask for all the Panda Express?”

“Ah, got it,” Anakin chuckled. “Have you been feeling better?”

“Yeah, no more fainting spells, and Rex is doing pretty well. Aside from having an aneurysm every time I mention what I’m eating,” Padmé laughed as she put down her coat and purse. “He caught me downing an entire box of macaroni and cheese in one sitting and looked ready to strangle me.”

“He’s passionate but the best in his field,” Anakin laughed. “He works with most of my family, Ahsoka too. I’m glad things are going well, it’s what matters.”

“Of course,” she nodded, settling into the couch. “You don’t mind if I take off my shoes, do you? I’ve been lowering the height of my heels, but my feet are still killing me.”

“Go ahead, be as comfortable as you want,” he offered. “Work is still stressing you out? Have you managed to delegate some of it?”

“It’s not as bad as it was in the work department itself, but the PR is turning into a nightmare, everyone on my team is obsessing over my favorability ratings. Talking about how people think I’m slacking off, and don’t think I should have gotten pregnant at all, stuff like that.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that I’ve officially announced it yet.”

“Maybe we should think about that,” he pointed out. “We have to carefully think about how we’re going to do it, and maybe we should release a joint statement and give interviews individually, but it’s important to put it out there and have our narrative. Control it.”

“Well, I think there’s a way for us to get the bare minimum of facts out there, but I’m not a hundred percent sure how. Given that we’re joint plaintiffs on the suit against Coruscant, I don’t know how we should handle that part of the story. The last thing we want is a countersuit where they claim we’re committing defamation.”

“I agree, it’s something that we need Obi-Wan and Saché’s help with, but you’ll eventually show more and people will ask questions. We have to anticipate that.”

“I don’t deny it, I just think we need to find a way that lets us give the bare minimum of information. And maybe it would be better if we did interviews together. Just to make sure we’re on the same page at all times?”

“Yes, maybe. But people will be curious. People will ask a lot of questions. We need to be ready and see with each other what we want and don’t want to answer. 

“I don’t want to talk about what happened in high school,” she said bluntly. “That’s personal, they don’t get to know about it.”

Anakin pursed his lips. “While I’m not eager to jump into the subject either, it will be inevitable. We were together for four years. We have a yearbook that documented those four years. We have colleagues, friends… we can avoid the subject, but trust me, Padmé, it will not stay hidden. It just won’t. One or more greedy classmates that we had, will talk. Press will get their hands in the yearbook.”

“Great,” she groaned, putting a hand to her forehead. “Where’s the Chinese food, I’m getting feelings.”

“You want to talk about the feelings instead of eating them?”

“What’s there to talk about? They’ll take your side for sure, there’s no reason not to. I was eighteen, I acted irrationally, and I broke your heart. And no one’s going to let it go for me, it probably _will_ end up sinking my re-election chances, and that’s three years away.”

To hear her admit it healed some of the small cuts he still carried within his heart, but he wasn’t sure what to do with the information. “We don’t have to tell them how we broke up, we just have to say we did because we went on different paths. We had different goals. We don’t need to air our dirty laundry. We drifted apart and we broke up. The end.”

“You say that like no one’s gonna think to get Kitster totally drunk so he spills the beans.”

“And you no longer know Kit,” he pointed out. “Our friends won’t betray us, Padmé.”

“Maybe not, but someone will.” She rubbed at her temples. “I really wish I could get drunk right now. Or get a time machine.”

“Padmé, it will be fine,” he reached out and took her hand without a second thought. “Trust me.” On instinct, she squeezed his hand back.

“Will you still think about making the time machine anyway?”

He looked down at their joined hands. “Why?”

“I don’t know, so I can go back in time and give myself a beatdown for being an idiot and ruining my life?”

“You’re the Mayor of New York City. Your life doesn’t seem ruined.”

“Personal life,” she corrected. “The guy I dated after you? Rush Clovis? _Total_ asshole.”

“You dated me, it’s all downhill from there,” he teased her lightly.

“Is that what your supermodel girlfriend told you? What happened there, anyway?”

“Amee wanted it all. Marriage. Kids. White picket fence. The same dreams I had and she loved me for who I was and not for my bank account, we met before Lightspeed made me a billionaire,” he licked his lips. “But… even if to the outside, we were perfect for one another, I realized that I would only make her unhappy down the line, because I wasn’t _in_ love with her.”

“Was she secretly working for a James Bond-style terrorist organization, or did I just screw you up that badly?” she deadpanned. “Because that’s the only reason I can think of.”

“No, she wasn’t a supervillain. I know I broke her heart and it’s on me for leading her on for so long, but I thought I could love her. I should have, but… maybe you did screw me up that badly,” he shook his head and noticed their hands were still tightly clasped.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and her grip got a little tighter. Then, mercifully, the door opened, Darra arriving with her arms full of takeout boxes.

“Is this enough Chinese food?”

Padmé let go of Anakin’s hand, her cheeks flushing red. “Yes, I think so.”

Anakin was frozen for a moment but he immediately got up and helped Darra with the food, setting it on the glass table between the couches. “Thank you, Darra,” he said.

She looked hesitant and grimaced as she realized she might have interrupted something. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

“Alright,” Anakin said slowly, as Darra left them alone once more. “Let’s eat our feelings.”

"Yes, join me in the dark side of indulgence, Anakin,” Padmé said, putting on a creepy old lady voice.

“I’ve joined you on the dark side of many things,” he snickered, sitting down. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Are you kidding? You did that way more often. Remember when you hotwired a motorcycle and convinced me to join you for a joyride?”

“You enjoyed it,” he accused.

“I enjoyed what we did _after_ the joyride,” she argued with an eye roll.

He bit his cheek in order not to grin too widely. "Well, you always enjoyed that," he quipped.

“Pretty sure you enjoyed it too, Skywalker.”

“I had no ways of comparing it, did I?” He said cheekily, as he dug into his rice.

“No, I suppose not. Neither did I.”

“Hmhm.” He pursed his lips. “Did anyone compare to me?” He gave her a sideways glance.

“Anakin!” Her cheeks flushed red. “You can’t just ask me that!”

* * *

“Okay, we’ve got the livestream set up, including the feed from the Mayor’s office. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Anakin muttered.

“Live in three, two…” Ahsoka held up a finger for ‘one’ as they cut to the feed of Padmé, who was already standing at her fancy podium in a suit and pearls.

“ _Thank you for coming, everyone, I know the circumstances aren’t exactly usual, but I think by the time I’m done, you’ll understand why this was necessary. As some of you have speculated recently, I am in the midst of my first pregnancy, one which I sought out through the services of a family planning clinic. Due to an error within that clinic, I did not get the donor I had originally chosen, but a donor who had been in the midst of his own family planning, Lightspeed CEO, Anakin Skywalker. We are currently attempting to navigate these very unusual circumstances in the most professional and amicable terms possible, and the main reason for this conference is to be transparent with the people of this city, while also asking that you maintain a level of respect for our privacy. I’ll take your questions now.”_

 _“Madam Mayor, what is your relationship with Mr. Skywalker at the moment?”_ One reporter asked.

_“We are operating as parents first and foremost, the priority is in ensuring that I make it through this pregnancy safely. I promise, he’s getting no special treatment from the City because of this,” she joked, and a few of the reporters laughed. “As I said, we’re working to be as amicable as possible.”_

_“How did this mistake happen? Are you suing the center you used?”_

_“We are joint plaintiffs on a malpractice suit against the employees that made this error. Due to the state of that case, I currently can’t disclose further information.”_

_“What made you choose a fertility clinic, Madam Mayor?”_

_“I wanted to be a parent, and, as you all know, I am not currently in a relationship with anyone, so it seemed the logical choice.”_

_“How far along are you, Madam Mayor? How is this affecting your work?”_

_“I am at the start of my second trimester, and while I have had to do some delegating to the deputy mayors, I assure you that I remain committed as ever to serving this city.”_

_“Madam Mayor, how do you believe this pregnancy will affect your poll numbers? Do you think your adversaries will take advantage of a time where you can be considered to be more vulnerable?”_

_“I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong, and I hope my constituents will see it that way too. We have a good two years before my re-election is really a subject, and I would hope by then that whatever strategies my opponents come up with are more substantial than attacking me for wanting to be a parent.”_

_“How present is Mr. Skywalker in the pregnancy? Have you established a legal agreement on the custody of your child?”_

_“That question is a little more personal than I’m willing to answer at this point, I’m sorry.”_

“Ready to switch?” Ahsoka asked Anakin.

“Bring them on,” he nodded.

“Questions will be on the screen, make sure you read them aloud before you answer.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “I know how this works, Snips.”

“Just making sure, buddy. First question incoming.”

**Is it a boy or a girl??**

“Boy or girl?” Anakin smiled. “We don’t know yet. It can be both, though, we are expecting twins, after all, so we’ll see if there’s a matched set in our future or two of each. We just want our babies to be healthy.”

**How did you find out you accidentally knocked up the Mayor? Also, BABIES!?! SHE MIGHTA MENTIONED THAT!**

“The excitement in our chat is palpable,” Anakin laughed. “I didn’t actually knock up the Mayor, guys, it wasn’t that kind of accidental pregnancy. We were both asked to be in a private meeting to discuss our respective procedures. It was where we were told of the mix up between the samples,” he explained. “She didn’t mention it was twins because I asked her to let me be the one to break the internet with that,” he quipped with a wink.

 **Are** ** _you_ ** **allowed to tell us what clinic you used?**

“Nice try. But no. I am not allowed to reveal the clinic we used due to the legal action we issued,” Anakin shook his head.

**Will we get to see pics when the babies come?**

“Will you get to see pictures when the babies come? Well, we haven’t decided how they will be introduced, but we will plan something, for sure. We just need to discuss how much we will share, the internet is a wild thing nowadays and we want to keep our privacy, of course.”

**Can we help name them?**

“Can you help name them? I… well, we haven’t discussed names yet. Suggestions are welcomed. But we can’t promise to use the names. We’ll see.”

**Are you excited?**

Anakin smiled, radiating happiness. “Am I excited? Most definitely. I am beyond excited. I’ve wanted to be a parent since I was very young and the fact that I’m a few months away from that goal makes me incredibly happy. Nervous too, but most of all excited.” As he looked at Ahsoka she gestured for him to wrap it up. “Thank you to everyone who’s watching, we’ll be sure to keep everyone updated on how the pregnancy goes, but we do ask to respect our privacy and our babies as well. I’ll make sure to schedule another live stream when we have the genders,” he winked. “Goodbye, everyone.”

“And we’re out.” Ahsoka said as the stream ended. “That went pretty well. How are you feeling, Skyguy?”

“Like things are finally falling into place.”

* * *

“It took exactly three days, seven hours, and twenty-two minutes for them to find out.” Sabé put three different tabloids on Padmé’s desk, all of which displayed different shots from four years’ worth of Theed High School yearbooks.

“‘High School Sweethearts Reunited,’” Padmé read off one cover with a chuckle. “‘What the Mayor and the Millionaire _didn’t_ tell us,’ oh, Anakin’s going to _hate_ that. He’s a _billionaire._ ”

Sabé snickered. “Yes, he is. Who would have thought?” She shook her head. “Anyway, how do you want to address this? Ahsoka already called, she’s coming down here with Anakin so we can all discuss a good strategy that does not blow up in our faces.”

“I suppose the best thing to do is another session with the press,” Padmé sighed. “A joint one this time.”

“Oh, Padmé, too many press conferences. It’s coming off very cold and clean. This is a time where people like to see cute stuff and rainbows and all that pink paradise,” Sabé sat down. “It needs… warmth.”

Yané knocked on the door before stepping inside. “Madam Mayor, your baby daddy is here,” she grinned with a chuckle.

“Show him in and please never call him that in front of me again.”

Shaking her head, Yané opened the door wider. “Mr. Skywalker, she will see you now.”

Anakin entered the office, in an impeccable midnight blue, three-piece suit, followed by a snickering Ahsoka. “People are blowing this out of proportion,” he muttered as he entered and approached Padmé’s desk. As he read the tabloids, he made a face. “That’s offensive,” he paused, “I’m a _billionaire._ ”

“Yes, it’s one of the great injustices, up there with ‘boomer’ and ‘Karen,’” Padmé deadpanned as she got up to greet him.

“I’m joking, you need to work on a sense of humor, you know that?” Anakin shrugged it off and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning back and lacing his fingers together.

“Pretty sure she was joking too, maybe you guys just need to spend more time together to get reacquainted with what your jokes actually sound like,” Ahsoka offered with a snicker. 

“Padmé’s sense of humor was always very hard to figure out,” he said flippantly, ignoring her last remark. “So, what now?”

“If I might make a suggestion,” Sabé raised her hand. “Dormé was talking about this in a planning meeting, we thought it might be a good idea if you two were to give a joint interview in a major publication, in association with an appropriate charity.”

“That actually sounds like a really good idea,” Ahsoka chimed in.

“A fluff piece?” Anakin questioned.

“I know you are allergic to overexposure, but this can be a good thing,” Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “You will be in an environment you both can control, with pre-approved questions and people will not be able to argue you’ll do it for the profit because like Sabé said, we can choose a charity that we can donate the money from the piece. We can pick a good, reliable, and trustworthy publication.”

“Like Vogue. Or Vanity Fair,” Sabé suggested.

“Exactly,” Ahsoka agreed. “Not to mention, you’ll get an amazing pregnancy shoot to place all around the house. I’m just obsessed with those shoots.”

“I suggested Padmé make a tasteful session later in her pregnancy, with more belly. But naked,” Sabé snickered.

Anakin raised his eyebrows, looking from his ex-girlfriend, to her friend. “Yeah, right,” he snorted. “Like she would ever do that.”

“I’m not interested in further encouraging the Mayor MILF thing,” Padmé nodded in agreement. “I don’t need to court the youth vote _that_ badly, and I don’t think anyone else wants to see their mayor naked.”

“Even if you weren’t the Mayor, Padmé, you are just a prude,” Anakin shook his head. “So. Publication? Which one of them do we get? I’m all up for it, it seems like a good idea and a quick answer to our worries.”

“Why is it prudish to not want the entire world to know what I look like when I’m not wearing clothes?!?”

“We’ve moved on from that,” Anakin pointed out.

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes, “I think Vanity Fair is a better call than Vogue. It’s done a better mix of political journalism with its entertainment and lifestyle pieces recently.”

“That’s ok with me,” he replied.

“I can set it up,” Ahsoka took her tablet from her bag and opened her calendar. “I’ll see what the earliest date they have is and when can the issue come out. It might take two or three months, though. The best we can do for now is issue a simple statement. We acknowledge your past relationship and say it wasn’t hidden, but no one asked and frankly, it’s no one else’s business.”

“Let’s try to have it happen before the babies come,” Padmé joked. “I definitely don’t need to be on the cover, just to have the interview be released in a timely fashion.”

“You’ll be on the cover,” both Sabé and Ahsoka declared.

“Even if they have to move around and push a few releases back, they’ll fit you two in. You’re the hot subject of the moment. Your cover will sell like candy,” Sabé declared.

“Anakin, will you please take my side in this?” begged Padmé.

“Why?” He asked, confused.

“Because,” she paused and looked at the other two women in the room. “Could we have some privacy, please?”

“Fine, but you need to make a decision within the next hour,” Ahsoka sighed as both she and Sabé stood up and left the office, closing the door behind them.

“What’s your problem with having a cover at Vanity Fair?” Anakin sighed.

Padmé settled into her chair, rubbing at her temples. “The truth is that I am having a _lot_ of body image problems right now. People already commented on my appearance before I got pregnant, but now that everything’s...changing and getting bigger, I’m hyper-aware of it. And I’m not comfortable with the idea of my body being displayed that prominently.”

“You can’t be serious,” he said, mouth slightly open in shock. _If you knew what I really thought and if I could do what I would like to, you wouldn’t be having body image issues._ “That’s insane! You’re pregnant and clearly, the only part of your body that’s aware of it, is the upper part,” he waved at her chest area, making her blush a little. “You never had body issues before, what’s the matter now? You’re letting trolls get to you? Is that the kind of message you want to pass over to young girls who watch and admire you?”

“I always had anxiety,” she countered, “but it’s manifested differently since I became a public figure. My appearance is constantly under the microscope, and while I would _love_ to send a ‘fuck the haters’ message to those girls who admire me, it doesn’t change the fact that I feel like I don’t really know my own body anymore, even with Rex helping me.”

“I obviously don’t want you uncomfortable and I know that saying that you have nothing to be concerned about, is not enough. I mean, usually, exercise would make you feel otherwise and maybe you just need to… I don’t know, spoil yourself a little more? Go shopping with your friend, or your mom. Buy cute pregnancy clothes, something that you feel comfortable and beautiful in,” he advised.

“You’re sweet,” she smiled a little. “And okay, _maybe_ I’m willing to do the cover, but I’m not going to be full-on naked.”

“I’ve _always_ been sweet and I was joking with the naked thing. We’ll do the photoshoot to your liking.”

“Thank you,” she sighed and swiveled her chair around to pour herself a glass of water. “Seriously though, you would _not_ want to see me when I’m at home right now. I wander around in sweats with my hair in a bird’s nest and I’m inhaling chips the way you used to. I think the twins like them.”

“You couldn’t _stand_ those chips. You had me brush my teeth before I even came _near_ you. Oh, the irony!” He cackled.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Skywalker—oh!” Her eyes widened and a hand moved to her stomach. “I’m feeling something, get over here!”

Anakin rushed out of his chair and to her side. “What? What is it? You know, it’s too soon for kicks!”

“I mean, it might just be gas, but this could be quickening,” she argued softly. “Either way, I’m feeling something, do you really want to miss this?”

“No,” he blushed a little and then carefully placed his hand over her stomach, biting his lower lip. This was the closest they had been in eleven years and the way his heart raced wasn’t normal. 

She took his hands and guided them into the proper spot. “Right there. Do you feel it?”

He waited a moment before he gently pressed his hand into her skin. “Oh my… yes. I feel it. Oh. This is surreal.”

“I know, right?” She nodded in a hushed, reverent whisper. “There are two little people in there.”

“Afraid?” He asked, softly.

“Just a little. You?”

“Terrified. But in a good way.”

“I know the feeling. But if you promise to try to keep me from screwing up, I’ll do the same for you. Okay?”

“Promise,” he nodded solemnly. She looked up at him, her eyes wide, her lips slightly parted as she bit down on her lower lip. He wanted to kiss her. He really did and he was inclined to. But… but he didn’t know if that was a step in the right direction. She was the one to break the standstill by pulling away and taking a long drink from the glass of water she’d poured.

“I, um. I guess we’d better get back to the work-related part of this.”

His hand slipped away from her stomach. “Yes. I have work to get back to anyway so…”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sure. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.”


	8. Living Re-Arrangements

“That was less bad than I thought it would be,” Padmé mused as she downed her milkshake in a single swallow.

“It’s the wonders of a pre-approved script. You can bet those questions were going to be much more personal if the girls hadn’t done something about them!” Anakin quipped, smiling as she basically inhaled her food.

“I suppose,” she conceded, “but even so, it still got… weird a few times.”

“It’s never a good thing to revisit why we broke up,”  _ especially when it made me feel so dumb. It was so easy to give up on us… I wonder why Ahsoka and Sabé left that question standing. _

“I know…” she trailed off, eyeing his plate. “Are you going to finish those fries?”

Anakin pushed the plate forward. “You know, in ten years, I thought you would learn to actually ask for food and not just eat it when I ordered it,” he teased her. “But go ahead. Eat them.”

“I didn’t want fries when we ordered,” she argued as she stole a few of the fries and dipped them into her milkshake. “But then the babies saw them, and they were like ‘oh, yeah, I want that, Daddy picks way better food than you do, Mommy,’” she put on a babytalk voice for the last bit.

“You  _ never  _ want fries when we order  _ anything,  _ until the moment when I’m eating,” he laughed out loud. “Yes, Daddy does have better taste in food. I’m not sustaining myself on vegetables and fake meat, Miss Vegan,” he replied, amused at her and there was a warmth to his eyes that took her back to the days where their dates were filled with playful banter and just…  _ love. _

“Vegetarian right now,” she corrected. “I’m making sacrifices for the sake of the twins.”

He sighed. “My kids will only eat  _ real  _ and  _ tasty  _ food when I’m making it for them.”

“Anakin, I was having a good time. Can we please not argue right now?” she sighed, taking a full handful of fries and dunking them into the milkshake.

“I’m not arguing, I’m stating a fact,” he pointed out. “How are those… milkshake and fries?”

“Actually really tasty, the sweet and salty make a good balance,” Padmé answered. “Want to try one?” She pushed the shake closer to him with a smile.

“I’m good,” he widened his eyes, amused. “It’s all yours.”

“Suit yourself.” She took a long sip of the milkshake on its own. “I will say this, though, I’m planning on taking a nice long shower when I get back home, and curling up with a good book. Today was exhausting. What about you? How do you unwind now? Is it still video games?”

“Well, the rest can be uncomfortable for us to speak about, so yes, video games still do the trick,” Anakin shrugged as he checked his messages. 

“You could have just said yes rather than mention that there are other elements,” she pointed out.

“I thought we agreed on being honest,” he smirked. “You have your books and long showers, I have my video games and  _ other  _ interests.”

“There’s a difference between being honest and being crass,” she countered, “you had to know I would figure out what those ‘other interests’ are almost instantly, I’m not stupid.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Anakin frowned. “I’m just so used to joking with my friends, I forgot our situation isn’t exactly the same. I’ll be better at my phrasing, next time.”

“Thank you.” She fidgeted with her hair for a moment.

“If you’re wondering,” he started, pursing his lips, “I don’t have a date or anything of that sort. I’m not doing it. I’m really focused on this pregnancy. It was really just a joke that fell through. I mean, come on, video games were not the only way I’d unwind and if I recall correctly, books were not the only thing for you either.”

“Well, I don’t do model UN anymore, so I can’t prep for that. And none of my adult friends…” she stopped, blushing a little. Anakin shook his head, laughing. “Play Dungeons and Dragons,” she finished with a sigh. “Don’t be dirty.”

“Right, because saying sex was a way to unwind is too dirty for the Mayor. Oh, Padmé, never change. You’re such a prude, no wonder old ladies love you,” he teased. “I have a late meeting to attend to, but we’ll keep in touch.”

“Okay. And don’t worry, I can pick up the tab.”

He shrugged. “It’s already paid. If you want anything else, please ask.”

“I’m fine.” She bit her lip. “I’ll see you around.”

Anakin smiled at her before standing and leaving the diner.

* * *

Anakin didn’t know what time it was, but he had fallen asleep on his couch again and his back would complain later. He searched blindly for the cause of his rude awakening, his ringing phone. He felt the ground for the slim piece of tech, grabbing it’s vibrating form and taking it to his ear. “Hello?” He yawned.

“Mr. Skywalker, I’m calling from the Valorum Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, we just admitted Mayor Naberrie and you’re listed as one of her emergency contacts.”

“What?” He shouted, jumping from his seat and searching for the keys to his car. “What happened? Is she alright? I’ll be right there!!”

“She seems to be okay, sir, she just had a little fall getting out of the shower, but came in to make sure she was completely alright,” the nurse on the other end said. “You should still come in though.”

“Of course, I’ll come in,” he snapped as he left for the foyer and insisted on pushing the elevator button. “Don’t let her leave without me.”

“I understand, Mr. Skywalker, we’ll see you soon.”

Honestly, that woman was going to be the death of him.

* * *

Padmé sat in her emergency room hospital bed, arms folded over her chest as she looked at Dr. Che expectantly. “This is extremely overdramatic. I feel fine now.”

“Padmé, I’ve seen a lot of bad things happen for little falls,” Dr. Che said. “I would like you to pay attention the next couple of days. If you see any bleeding, even spots, I want you to come in, alright? Everything looks good, but… I don’t want to take risks.”

“I understand that, what I don’t understand is why you’re not letting me leave.”

“We might have called Mr. Skywalker,” she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “He was… uh… concerned.”

“You did  _ what _ ?” Padmé groaned. “He’s going to blow this whole thing out of proportion!”

At the same time, a nurse knocked on the door. “Dr. Che, Mr. Skywalker is here for Ms. Naberrie.”

“Send him in, please, thank you.”

Padmé grabbed one of the extra pillows and let out a long groan of frustration into it.

“Do you want to give me a heart attack?” Anakin scowled, entering the office. His face, even if she couldn’t see it, was paler than usual. He sighed, as he saw her hiding her face in the pillow. “Dr. Che, please tell me, how is she?”

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” Padmé muttered as she lowered the pillow. “I just slipped getting out of the shower and fell a little, that’s all.”

“You  _ fell a little _ ?” He repeated in disbelief. “That’s not a thing! Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t think it was that big a deal!”

“You’re in the hospital, aren’t you?” He narrowed his eyes. “That’s a  _ big  _ deal and something you should have informed me!”

“I had you as an emergency contact, didn’t I?”

“You are missing the point,” he groaned, frustrated, as he rubbed a hand across his face,

“Padmé,” Dr. Che interjected, “considering this is the second time that you’ve had to come in, I think we need to discuss the possibility of you hiring live-in care.”

“Like a nurse?” Anakin frowned.

“Essentially, yes. Someone to be there and keep an eye on her and the babies’ health, so we don’t have to keep ending up here at the ER.” Dr. Che explained and turned to her patient. “Padmé?”

“I’m open to the possibility,” she conceded. “And it’d be nice to have someone else living in Gracie Mansion with me. It’s a big house for just one person.”

“I have a better option,” Anakin said. “Come live with me. The penthouse is big enough for the both of us, and before you say anything, it’s also selfish of me, because it’s a way for me to be there on the day-to-day of my children’s pregnancy.”

“That is another option,” agreed Dr. Che, “but the primary concern is making sure that you are safe and have someone to take care of you, Padmé. Things are only going to get more intense from here.”

“You’re going to keep asking me to come live with you until I say yes, aren’t you?” Padmé deadpanned as she looked at Anakin.

“Definitely and you know how annoying I can be,” Anakin confirmed.

“I’d need time to pack.”

“You can come with me today and wear something of mine,” he pointed out. “I’m sure you need to rest for a day or two, right, Dr. Che? Risk of bleeding? We can have your friends pick your things.”

“It wouldn’t hurt for you to take a sick day or two.”

“Okay, fine, I can recognize when I’m democratically outvoted,” Padmé huffed. “I’ll come home with you. Can I leave now?”

Anakin extended his hand to her. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

The blush that spread over her cheeks probably could have roasted a marshmallow, but she took his hand and let him pull her off the bed. “My room’s going to have its own bathroom, right?”

“Yes, it will,” he confirmed as he helped her stand. “You’ll have all the privacy that you need. Any recommendations, Dr. Che, before we leave?”

“Keep an eye out for spotting, don’t let her do anything too strenuous, and stick to the plans you were already on. And be more careful in the bathroom from now on, Padmé.”

“Anything not super obvious?”

“Maybe try an attitude adjustment,” the doctor said dryly.

“I’ve been telling her that since we met, it’s not something she can do,” Anakin sighed. “Dr. Che, thank you,” he tugged Padmé towards the exit. “I hope to only see you at our next appointment.”

“Yes, of course. Take care, you two,” Vokara nodded. “Padmé. Listen to Anakin more.”

Padmé paused to grab her purse, then scoffed. “I’ll take it under advisement.”

“You are a danger to yourself,” Anakin muttered, squeezing her hand as they navigated the empty halls. “ _ And  _ my babies.”

“ _ Our _ babies,” she corrected. “They’re only yours when they’re in trouble. I thought we’d established this.”

“You scared me,” Anakin said, not amused. “I don’t particularly enjoy being woken up by a call from the hospital, no matter how insignificant you think this little mishap was. You are pregnant. You have to take double the care. Or don’t you realize that?”

“Why do you think I came to the hospital in the first place?” she argued petulantly. “I wanted to make sure everything was okay, I didn’t think they’d call you.”

“The more important question is, why didn’t you? Call me?”

“Because I didn’t want to be having this exact conversation!”

“If you had told me directly, I wouldn’t have had to be freaked out by a nurse,” Anakin argued. “We’re a team, aren’t we? We have to be.”

“Yes, we have to be, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re ridiculously paranoid. I know you planned on having a live-in surrogate so you could experience the full pregnancy, but it’s really awkward for me sometimes. Like I’m an incubator instead of a person.”

“You’re not an incubator and neither was my surrogate and this is not about being paranoid, this is me  _ worrying  _ about the mother of my children  _ and  _ my children,” he insisted as they approached his sleek, black car. “I know you have been independent for a decade but learn to share a bit of your load with me. We’re not getting rid of each other. Not now. We’ll always be in each other’s life.”

“I’m aware of that,” she muttered, climbing into the backseat. “But I didn’t  _ want _ you to worry, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

Anakin sighed and closed the door, walking around the car to enter the driver seat. “If you’re not comfortable living with me, I understand,” he says as he starts the engine. “You just have to be honest with me.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said truthfully. “I just… I hate feeling like I screwed up. And I feel that a lot around you.”

He was quiet as he understood her reasoning. “And I feel like I always have something to prove when I’m around you. So neither of us is perfect.”

“You do  _ not _ have anything to prove, you’re doing better than I am.”

“Really? How so?”

“I don’t know, you just,” she gestured wildly, “you give off this vibe like you’re actually handling everything really well, and rolling with the punches, so whenever you get worried, it just makes the screwup feeling get worse.”

“Maybe I do that because I don’t want you to think I’m not handling certain things very well? I don’t want you to feel like you’ve screwed up, it’s really not my goal. I worry, P. I’ve always worried about you. This is my natural state.”

“Oh, come on, it can’t have been  _ always.  _ What about the ten years you hated my guts?”

"Hate. Such a strong word," he sighed. "I hated you as much as you hated me." She was silent in the backseat. "We were overly dramatic kids in the end," he shrugged as he glanced at her through his rearview mirror. 

“Not arguing there.”

He opened his mouth to ask her something but decided against it and instead focused on the road ahead. He didn't want her to get the wrong impression. Or any impression at all. In fact, he didn't know what he wanted right now. Or better… He did. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. 

“So, is it just going to be us? Or do you have, like, a full live-in staff?” she asked, trying to make a joke.

“Just us. I have a cleaning lady that goes there every two days and my security team is very discreet. It’s Fives and Echo, Rex’s cousins and they are not usually at the house,” he explained.

“Do you just employ Rex’s entire family?”

“They’re trustworthy and they’ve had my back since college. Rex is more than my Personal Trainer, by the way. He’s my Chief Security Officer. No one beats him at security and physical strength,” he chuckled. 

“Well, I’m glad you have the support network.”

“Much like you do with the girls.”

“I’m honestly shocked how many of them agreed to move to New York when I asked them, they’re mostly from California.”

“Rex’s family is mostly from Boston. It’s called loyalty,” Anakin beamed. “They’ve all found happiness. I mean, I’m attending three of his cousins’ weddings in the nearby future. They have their security business, it’s a branch of Lightspeed. Everyone has their happy ending.”

“How many cousins does he have, and at what point does loyalty cross over into nepotism?”

“They’re a… big family. Having a family business is not nepotism. Don’t be like that. They employ more than fifty people in security.”

“Be like what?”

“Judgemental.”

“I wasn’t!”

“Not all of us were born with a gold spoon in our mouths,” he pointed out as he entered his building’s garage and parked next to an electric blue Audi. Besides it, were three other cars, a convertible, a Jeep, a sedan, and two Ducati bikes, a blue one and a black one. 

“The phrase is 'silver spoon' and just because my family is well off doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard to earn everything I have now,” she eyed the motorcycles warily as she climbed out of the backseat. “Tell me you wear a helmet on those things.”

“No, I freestyle,” he replied dryly, leaving the car.

“If that was a joke, it wasn’t funny.”

“Maybe when you’re not pregnant, we can take a ride on the blue one. It is  _ fast  _ and we don’t have to hotwire it,” he smirked as he pushed the button to call the elevator.

“Maybe. When the twins are eighteen.”

“Wuss,” he smirked as the doors slid open and he tugged her inside a spacious elevator with mirrored walls. He pressed the ‘PH’ button and leaned against one of the mirrors as the doors closed.

“I am not a wuss, I’d just rather not get on something that’s basically a death machine before my kids are legal adults.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re hungry? I can make you something before you go to bed.”

“Do you still make chocolate chip cinnamon pancakes?”

“I do and I can make them while you settle in. Maybe take a shower  _ without  _ falling?” He raised his eyebrows. As the elevator finally came to a halt, they entered a private vestibule. Opening a little panel near the doors, Anakin entered a code and it unlocked and slid open. “I’ll give you a code later,” he ushered her into the gallery and she was immediately faced with a big, rectangular mirror, illuminated in the back by white led lights. “Alright, so I’ll give you a quick tour,” he pointed towards his right. “Down there, is the kitchen and right here,” he pointed at the door a few feet away from the mirror, “my office and library, now, if we go to the left,” he took her hand without thinking twice about it and pushed the door to a small hallway. “Over here is a bedroom, it can be your room, since I’m kind of preparing the middle one to be the nursery,” he flicked the lights open and the decor was very light and in pastel tones. Definitely Shmi’s touch. Anakin never could decorate by himself. There was a huge ceiling to floor window with an unobstructed view of Central Park and an armchair where she could see herself reading by.

“It looks beautiful,” she murmured. “Thank you.”

“Ah, it’s nothing,” he shrugged it off, turning the bathroom’s lights on as well. “It has a private bathroom, as well, but you are more than welcome to use the one in my dressing room and I’ll show you why in a sec,” with a boyish smile, he pulled her along with him. The door in the middle was closed and there was a paper on it saying ‘Work in Progress’ with baby drawings. “Yeah, Ahsoka and my mom are having fun,” he mused as they passed by it. “Master bedroom.  _ My  _ bedroom,” he said as he turned on the lights. The room had two windows, just like her did and the view was really breathtaking. You could see the entire skyline of New York and beautiful twinkling lights. Behind them was a wall filled with shelves that were completed with books, awards, pictures and more pictures. By both windows were cushioned benches with a few clothes on and the bed was slept on. “The one thing that sold this penthouse to me was the view.”

“It’s a very impressive view,” she admitted. “I’m really tempted to break out into a song like Annie.”

He laughed. “Yes, well, it’s not like your house isn’t big,” he pointed out. “So, I have my bathroom too, but over here,” he pulled towards the dressing room, with a wall that only had his clothes. Suits, shirts, sweats, jeans and a half of it for shoes and sneakers and on the other wall was a door to another bathroom. “This is super cool,” he turned on the lights. At the end of the room, was a long, oval bathtub, right by a huge window. “You know I always found baths girly, but I’ve taken one or two myself, and it’s a really sexy place to have sex,” he said without thinking about his words, “I had to change the bathtub when I moved in because it was too small for me, let alone two people.”

“Uh-huh.” The two syllables sounded strangled coming out of her mouth. “I’ll look around for a bit and meet you in the kitchen for those pancakes?”

“Right, let me give you something for you to change into,” he turned around and opened one of the drawers, moving his clothes around. “Hmmm, maybe this,” he extended his MIT red sweatshirt with the white letters to her, “and… as awkward and cringy as this might sound, maybe one of my boxers for shorts?!”

“I’ll stick with my own underwear for now, given how tall you are, this is basically a dress on me,” she said with a smirk as she took the hoodie from him.

He looked between the hoodie and her smirk. “I want that back, you know?”

“You’ll get it back by the time I move out.”

“Yeah, right, I’ll never see it again,” he muttered. “You did the same with my Theed High School jacket with my name on it,” he rolled his eyes. 

“I thought you gave that to me as a gift!”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve burned it when we broke up,” he shook his head. “Now, the living room is that way,” he waved at his right side and there’s a direct connection to the kitchen. “This is your house for the foreseeable future, so feel right at home,” he kissed her temple, before turning and heading out.

“I didn’t—” she stopped at the kiss on her temple, dumbstricken by the sudden, unprompted gesture of affection.  _ Oh, fuck. _

* * *

“Tell me again, who are you living with?” Sola sounded smug, too smug. She was enjoying it.

“Anakin,” Padmé said through gritted teeth. “But it’s purely for medical reasons, Dr. Che didn’t think I should be living alone when I’m now basically a ‘fall risk.’ Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“You’re cuddled up in his guest bedroom, surrounded by his things, and oh, this is what you really need to get the truth through that thick skull of yours. I hope it finally happens!”

“Oh, my god, Sola,  _ shut up _ or I will come to your apartment and make you help with the last of the moving.”

“You’re annoyed because you know I’m right!” Sola huffed.

“Or because you’re being ridiculous!”

“We’ll see. This is a good thing, Padmé, you’ll get to spend time with Anakin and plan for your babies. I know this will do both of you some good. I’m also hopeful it makes you both see sense.”

“See sense about  _ what _ ?” Padmé asked darkly. “I hope you’re not about to suggest something absurd, Sola.”

“For now, I’ll say nothing, but time will tell,” her sister giggled. “I have to go. The girls and Darred send their love. Take care, little sister.”

Padmé growled through her nose as she hung up and went back to wandering the penthouse. She would have gladly helped with the moving, but everyone had insisted that she not overexert herself.

And she kind of wanted to snoop in his office for revenge while the guys brought in the last boxes of her stuff. He’d left the door unlocked, so it was easy enough to just walk in and take a look around. He had his diplomas on the wall, along with photos of his mother, Ahsoka, Rex, and his eerily identical family members. None of Amee, which made her surprisingly happy, but some posters for racing and spy movies. As her eyes drifted to his desk, she blinked in surprise.  _ It couldn’t be… _

Sitting on the corner, right next to one of his monitors, was a little bottle of multicolored sand, with  _ AS + PN  _ inscribed within a heart. She reached out to it with trembling hands, letting her fingers curl around the cool glass. It had been a stupid gag gift for April Fools’ Day, their first April Fools’ Day as a couple. Why had he kept it?

“Everything’s up here!” A cheerful voice distracted her.

“Careful, I think the bottom’s about to—” A second voice was cut off by a loud thud and she bolted toward the sound, still clutching the glass bottle in her hands.

“What happened?” she asked as she rounded the corner into the foyer.

“Yané has butterfingers!”

“Did anyone or anything break?” Padmé looked from her friends to Anakin’s.

“Fortunately, it was just the books,” Rex replied. “And a few other things, but other than the mess, everything’s fine.”

“ _ Just _ the books?” Padmé repeated, surveying the scattered volumes on the floor. “You better hope none of the spines got damaged.”

“Don’t mess with her books,” Sabé warned as she began to pick them up.

“Yes, these are her first babies,” Rabé muttered as she helped her friend.

“Alright, alright,” Rex smirked. “Anakin was parking downstairs, he’ll be up here in a couple of minutes,” he stared at the bottle in Padmé’s hands. “Careful not to drop  _ that _ .”

“Oooh, what is it?” Dormé peered curiously and Padmé instinctively cradled it close to her chest.

“It’s nothing. I’m going to put it back where I found it now.” Rex chuckled as if he knew some sort of secret and walked away. Padmé huffed and headed back to the office, setting the little vial back in the place where she’d found it.

It didn’t mean anything. Sola had just gotten into her head.

“There is an invasion in my house,” she heard Anakin’s voice echo through the hall, he sounded amused.

“Admit it, you never had this many women in here,” Fives joked.

“Oh, you never were present for Kit’s infamous get-togethers,” the father of her children laughed. “Where’s my baby mama?”

“Putting something back. In your office,” Rex answered.

“P.?” He called as he went towards his office. “Are you moved in already?”

“I’m gonna unpack in a minute, I just got a little distracted.” She spun around very quickly to face him. “I was on a call with my sister before the books fell.”

“Ah, I see,” he pulled the laptop bag from his shoulder and set it down, when his eye caught something near the door. “Wait, was it that?” He mumbled and bent down to grasp a little wood piece on a leather cord.

“I don’t know, I can’t see it from this distance.”

“Hey, it’s… hmm… I didn’t know you still had this,” the japor snippet he had gifted her on their first anniversary because he didn’t have the money for a good gift dangled from his fingers.

“Well, you still have this,” she pointed out, indicating the sand art. “And I figured you’d thrown it in the trash as soon as my back was turned on April second.”

“I get attached to things,” he blushed, extending the necklace back to her. “I figured you would throw my things in the trash after that fight. I mean, we never did the traditional exchange of belongings.”

“Yeah, well,” she took the necklace and looped it around her neck, “there were a lot of good memories with this little thing that I wasn’t ready to give up. Plus, I did have this whole plan to beg you to take me back at graduation.”

“You said you were going to apologize,” he looked shocked. “Never that you wanted to get back together.”

“I was going to do one before trying the other,” she admitted. “But you were gone, and I figured that if you didn’t want to talk to me, I didn’t want to talk to you, so I decided that would be the end of it.”

“Hmm, we’re going to leave,” Rabé knocked on the door of the office. “If you two need anything from us, you know where we’ll be,” she glanced between them and left quietly, closing the office door. Padmé looked around nervously, suddenly very nervous to be alone with Anakin.

“Our break-up was ridiculous,” he finally said as he sat in one of the chairs. “It was an easy way out of a relationship that was turning serious and maybe, neither of us was prepared for it,” he muttered.

“Ridiculous as it might be, it doesn’t make the hurt any less real,” she pointed out. “Or the regret any less deep.”

“It’s because it’s ridiculous that hurts so much,” he pursed his lips. “I shouldn’t have… let you leave the diner.”

“But it happened,” she sighed. “And we don’t get a do-over, even if we want...ed one.”

“Meanwhile, I guess you’ll live in my hoodie,” he turned cheerful, as if avoiding a painful discussion.

“I thought we just got all my stuff brought in here so that I don’t  _ have _ to live in your hoodie.”

“You’ll never find anything as comfortable as that hoodie.”

“I don’t know, remember that cashmere sweater I gave you junior year?”

“I do. Not as comfortable.”

“Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to go put my own clothes away now. Unless you think I’m too delicate to do that on my own?”

“Do you  _ want  _ me meddling in your  _ delicates _ ?” He countered.

“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before. And we’re both adults.”

“What if I make dinner and you unpack?” Anakin chuckled.

“Depends on what you were planning to make.”

“One of my famous pasta dishes and a healthy dessert. Why? Don’t trust my cooking?”

“Just nothing too spicy, okay? The twins don’t like spicy.”

Anakin nodded and stood up. “Deal. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“Thanks, Ani.” She clapped a hand over her mouth as the old nickname slipped out.

“You’re welcome,” he hesitated, and for both of their sakes, ignored the nickname.

“I’ll see you,” she mumbled, stumbling past him towards her bedroom. “At dinner.”


	9. Experiments in One Big Happy Family

“Thanksgiving is coming up, have you and Padmé talked about what you’re doing?”

“I was thinking we could join the families at the penthouse,” Anakin replied.

“That sounds lovely,” Shmi smiled. “And good practice for the future.”

“True. We’re thinking about spending the holidays together with the twins, so they can have all the love from both families,” he smiled.

“And all the presents.” His mother reached over to ruffle his hair. “You two are going to spoil them rotten, I can already tell.”

“As they deserve,” he beamed. “I thought it would be harder to live with Padmé, but… we’ve settled into an easy routine.”

“Maybe you should make it a more permanent arrangement.”

“Mom, that would never work,” he sighed. “This is temporary.”

“What about the necklace?” she prompted. “And calling you Ani? You really shouldn’t tell me these things if you don’t want me to turn them against you.”

“What if that means nothing?” Anakin pointed out. “What if it’s just… I don’t know, slips or mistakes, I don’t know, we’re having two babies and we can’t mess it up before they get here. We need to be in a good place.”

“And what if it’s real?”

“What if what’s real?” Padmé walked in, removing her blazer jacket and unbuttoning the lower half of her blouse. “Ugh, I think the twins deliberately grew in the last eight hours just to mess with me.”

“Maybe we need to take you shopping, dear,” Shmi beamed. “You’re growing beautifully. Look at that bump.” Gently, she caressed Padmé’s rounded stomach. “You look beautiful pregnant, doesn’t she, Ani?”

“I mean, I guess it  _ is _ time to start looking for maternity wear,” Padmé admitted, sparing Anakin from having to answer the question. “I’ll call Sola and see if she has anything leftover she can send me.”

“No, no, let me spoil you. I want to take you shopping and it’s my treat. We’ll invite your mom too, it will be fun,” Shmi insisted.

“I’ll cover the trip for the three of you,” Anakin offered. “And yes, she does look beautiful,” he answered the earlier question.

“Well, I mean… if you insist…”

“I have to spoil someone to train for the twins,” he smiled with a shrug.

“Wait, when did we agree you could spoil them?”

“Oh, that’s not even an argument I’m going to have,” Anakin placed his black card on the desk. “If you hit the limit, I know I made a mistake,” he joked.

“You realize that just sounds like a challenge, right? I could max it out just to spite you. Buy the entirety of Macy’s.”

“Surprise me,” he challenged her, raising one eyebrow.

“Shmi, you’re my witness in this, he invited me to do it.”

Shmi laughed. “Then you better enjoy it, dear. I’ll call your mom and we’ll leave in a few minutes. Enjoy the rest of the day. Do you mind, Ani?”

“No, I have work to do,” he grinned.

“I’ll go get changed,” Padmé headed off to her bedroom and Shmi smirked at her son.

“You’re spoiling her because you want to.”

“Don’t let her know that,” he lifted his shoulder, opening his laptop. “And make sure she has fun.”

“I’ll certainly do my best. But I hope you’ll go with her for things like strollers and onesies and cribs.”

“I will. Just focus on her today. It can’t always be about the twins,” he pointed out.

“No, but it  _ is _ about you two,” she reminded him. “We may call you if we need someone to carry bags.”

“There’s Fives and Echo for it,” Anakin made a face.

“Fives and Echo didn’t make those babies. I thought you wanted to participate.”

“I’ll take her shopping for furniture and strollers in a few short months, I don’t want to carry the bags  _ now, _ ” he whined.

“I can carry my own bags,” Padmé complained as she returned in jeans and a high-waisted yellow top. “Would everyone stop acting like I’m an invalid?”

“Fives and Echo are going with you! End of discussion,” he said.

“What did they do to piss you off?”

“It’s their job,” Anakin replied. “And… they should know better than mocking their boss.”

“They mocked you? How? Tell me everything, shopping can wait.”

“Go!” He laughed, pushing her towards the door. He wasn’t going to tell her they spend the entire week making quips about his ‘married’ life and betting on how long it would take them to get back together.

“Fine, but you tell me everything when I get back,” she insisted stubbornly as she grabbed her coat and purse.

“Try to have fun.”

“Make lasagna for dinner!” she called.

“Eat out!” He shouted, laughing.

* * *

“Do we have everything ready?” Padmé asked as she moved through the kitchen, snagging a few crackers. “My family’s probably on their way now.”

“We have everything, yes. Don’t stress yourself and my babies out, okay?”

“I can’t wait till next week when we can start talking about names properly,” she hummed. “Though I’m still not sure about the whole sex reveal party, are you sure we don’t just want to experience it during the sonogram?”

“A sex reveal party is fun and it keeps you on your toes. Ahsoka promised to make one five days after the sonogram,” he chuckled.

“Okay, but I’m warning you now, Anakin Junior is off the table no matter what.”

“I don’t even like Anakin Junior,” he made a disgusted face. “Please. Who do you take me for?”

“I’m not sure if you want me to answer that,” she said as the door buzzed. Repeatedly. “That is probably the girls. Should I get it?”

“Go, it’s your house too,” he nodded.

“I’m coming!” Padmé yelled as the buzzer continued to ring. Even when she opened the door, Pooja was still pressing the button. “Really?”

“It’s fun,” the little girl pouted. “Your tummy got a lot bigger.”

“Yeah, pregnancy has a way of doing that. Especially when there’s two of them.”

“Hi, babies,” Ryoo said as she placed her little hands on Padmé’s stomach.

“Hi,” Pooja repeated and placed her hands as well. “Do they hear us?”

“They certainly heard that bell ringing,” Darred said sheepishly. “I have pies and wine. Where’s Anakin?” He passed his daughters and kissed Padmé’s cheek.

“I have to say I love your new home more than the haunted mansion you were in,” Sola chuckled.

“Are you gonna live here forever, Auntie Padmé?” Ryoo quipped.

“Anakin’s in the kitchen, and no, it’s just temporary. I’ll move back to Gracie Mansion once the twins have stopped breastfeeding,” Padmé said as she ushered her family in. “Are Mom and Dad still parking?”

Darred moved towards the kitchen and Sola got the girls' coats as they chased their father, leaving their Aunt’s stomach alone.

“They are, yes, the garage is huge but we’ve managed to find the spots Anakin said,” Sola smiled. “You are…” she glanced at her sister, from top to bottom, “glowing. Truly.”

“Thank you,” Padmé smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Don’t try anything funny today, I swear to God, Sola.”

“Oh, please, I am able to behave, why don’t you trust me?” Sola scoffed. 

“Because it’s not a question of ability, it’s a question of willingness.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make unnecessary comments about how this is falling into place and you are totally in love with your baby daddy. And have been for years,” Sola snickered.

“Have been what for years?” A new voice spoke from behind her, and Padmé snapped into the mode of a perfect hostess.

“Thinking about a big family Thanksgiving,” she answered. “A really big one.”

“Padmé, I found your parents in the elevator,” Shmi gushed as she stood by Jobal. “I don’t think you’ve met Cliegg,” she patted her husband’s shoulder and he smiled at them. 

“And my son Owen and daughter-in-law, Beru,” he said to the couple behind him.

“Padmé, the house is big enough you don’t have to keep them in the doorway,” Anakin quipped from the kitchen and the girls could be heard squealing around the living room where he had set up an interactive game for them.

“We were just about to go inside, but I was making introductions to your stepfamily,” Padmé explained as she shook the Larses’ hands in quick succession. “It’s wonderful to meet all of you. Please come on in.”

“Honey, where do you need help?” Shmi immediately took the pies from Owen and Cliegg, heading towards the kitchen and kissing her son on the cheek. 

“The house is wonderful, Anakin,” Ruwee commented.

“Thank you, the space is about to be put to good use,” Anakin smiled and shook Padmé’s father’s hand. 

“Trust me, babies are going to take over  _ everything, _ ” Sola pointed out.

“Even if you say you are going to be  _ one of those  _ parents that don’t let it affect their lives,” Darred snorted. “Toys. Toys  _ everywhere. _ ”

“Obviously there’s going to be babyproofing,” Padmé pointed out. “Or have you all forgotten what kind of person I am?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to live in bubble wrap if she has her way,” Anakin smirked. “Why don’t you all head to the living room? Go on, dinner is almost done. Padmé and I had everything ready!”

“You didn’t have to do that, we would have helped,” Beru offered. “You’re already doing so much by hosting.”

“Please, it was the most fun I’ve had in a while,” Padmé reassured her brightly. “Mostly because it freaked Anakin out.”

“She is scary in the kitchen, so I had to make sure we weren’t going to the hospital with food poisoning,” he pointed out.

“Just because I don’t eat meat doesn’t mean I don’t know how to cook it.”

“No, you’re just really bad at seasoning,” he teased lightly and nudged her side with a smile, making Sola raise one eyebrow and look at her mom, who, in turn, looked at a beaming Shmi. 

“So I should be prepared for the kids to not be able to handle anything stronger than salt whenever they come home from your place, got it.”

“I’m sorry, but I rock at seasoning and you know it. You ate  _ all  _ of my perfectly seasoned tofu. You cried when I told you I didn’t have anymore,” he rolled his eyes playfully, standing close to her.

“That doesn’t count, the twins are messing with my emotions.”

“You can’t excuse all of your behavior on them,” he quipped, caressing her stomach. “Right, babies? Mommy excuses herself with you too much, doesn’t she?”

“You try growing two humans inside your body and not do some really stupid things,” she retorted. “Now are you going to put dinner on the table, or should I do it and give you another heart attack as you yell about my center of gravity?”

“We can set the table,” Jobal beamed.

“Yes, you two have already done so much,” Shmi chuckled. “We’ll do this bit.”

“Well, if you insist.” Padmé chuckled. “I’ll go check on the girls then.”

As she left the kitchen and Jobal took the plates to set the table, Shmi hugged her son’s arm with a gleeful smile. “You two look so comfortable together. I love it. Truly.”

“Mom, stop making movies in your head,” he kissed the top of her hair.

“It’s hardly a movie, Ani, the two of you work quite well together now that you’ve taken some time to cool your heads and get on the same page.”

“It’s very difficult for this to become more than what it already is. A partnership for our babies.”

“So you’ve thought about it.” Shmi’s eyes sparkled brightly.

“What do you want me to say? Yes? Will that make you happy?” He asked, irritated. “Can we not talk about this, Mom? I want to have a wonderful evening with our families. This is our new normal.”

Shmi pursed her lips but decided not to press the issue. “I’ll see you at the table.”

Anakin turned back to the food as it was finished and bit the inside of his cheek. He would be lying if the last few weeks with Padmé hadn’t been some sort of weird dream of what it could have been if they had stayed together. They would have been married by now. Maybe this pregnancy would have happened earlier, or maybe not. Maybe it was the right time. However, he wasn’t sure what would happen if they got back together.

“Anakin!” Pooja ran up to him, hugging him by the waist. “We felt the babies kicking, they’re super strong! Are you super strong?”

“I don’t know, let’s see,” he bent down, picking her up and holding her high above his head. “Am I super strong?” He teased.

“Yes!” she squealed in delight.

“Me next, me next!” Ryoo shouted.

He laughed and set Pooja down, picking Ryoo up and twirling her around in the air. “Are we ready to eat and give thanks?”

“Yeah!” The girls chorused.

“Good. Go and take your seats,” he chuckled, setting Ryoo on the ground. “Food is about to go on the table.”

In the dining room, Padmé had finished arranging the place cards, taking care to put a respectable distance between herself and Anakin before she settled into her chair and surreptitiously rubbed her ankles. Jobal and Shmi talked like old friends, which they basically were. They had been close friends before Anakin and Padmé stopped dating and more than once, the families had gone on weekend getaways together. Cliegg, Owen, and Darred talked about the latest football game, while Beru and Sola each had a glass of wine and laughed about something as Sola pointed at the girls. They all fit perfectly as a family. There was no awkwardness, no small talk. Just genuine love.

“Does anyone want to say anything before we eat?” she asked.

“Let’s all say something we are thankful for,” Cliegg suggested. “I can start. I am grateful for my son, my daughter, and my beautiful and loving wife. How did I get so lucky, I don’t know.” Shmi grinned and squeezed his hand.

“As I am grateful for you. And my son, and my future grandchildren. As well as  _ their _ beautiful mother.” Padmé blushed as her parents raised their glasses in agreement.

“I’m grateful for these little terrors,” Darred said and his daughters giggled. “Whom I love more than my life and of course, my stunning and impossible wife. I love you.”

“I love you, too, honey. And I’m grateful that we get to do this together, so thanks to Anakin for being a bazillionaire with a ridiculously nice apartment.”

“I am grateful for Lightspeed. For my fantastic and supportive family,” he squeezed Shmi’s other hand, “my friends who make my life so much better, and obviously, this year I have to be grateful for having the opportunity to be living the pregnancy of my first children,” he glanced at Padmé. “So, it has been a great year. Switched samples and ugly arguments aside.”

“It’s a big mistake that hid a blessing,” Padmé agreed. “To Coruscant Family Planning for totally screwing up and making all this possible.”

“Next year, I can’t wait to have my new grandchildren on the table with us,” Jobal said, raising her glass. “To family.”

“To family,” Shmi agreed.

“Now then, let’s eat, I’m  _ starving. _ ”

* * *

“Tired?” Anakin guessed as he placed the last dish on the dishwasher. The house was suddenly empty, after being with so much noise, so much life, from the girls and their families. He couldn’t wait until the twins were bringing that life to every day of his life.

“Ridiculously so.” Padmé ate the last of the pumpkin pie straight out of the tin.

“I think everyone had fun, don’t you?” He asked, closing the door and setting the washing program. 

“Oh, absolutely, I’m surprised the girls didn’t hide in the house to stay here forever. They adore you.” She licked the last of the crumbs off the tin. “This is insanely good, where did we get this again?”

“I made it,” he pointed out, amused. “And I love the girls. They’re so adorable and they bring so much life to the house. I can’t wait until we have that.”

“So, you’d prefer it if we had two little girls?” she teased.

“I can see myself as a girls’ dad, yeah,” he admitted. “But a couple would be good as well.”

“One of each, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“That probably would be the best outcome, yeah,” she nodded. “I don’t know if I could handle three of you, if we had two boys.”

“Oh, we would be unstoppable,” his eyes gleamed wickedly. “An army of blue-eyed Skywalkers!”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’d rule the world for about ten minutes before the robots take over.”

He laughed. “I would love to have a son, but I can’t wait to have a baby girl.”

“Well, if we don’t have one, that’s on you, it’s your sperm,” she teased.

“My sperm is well taught, he knows what I want,” he smirked. 

“Oh my God,” she groaned.

Anakin shook his head, laughing at her reaction. “I think we’re both ready to go to bed.”

“Yeah, but this chair is also really comfortable, so I might just stay here forever.”

He yawned and stretched his arms above his head and sighed. “I’m going because I can barely keep my eyes open and I am  _ so full  _ of food.”

“You make it sound like I should help you before  _ you _ become the fall risk for a change.”

Leaning against the counter, he watched her. She was glowing, pregnancy suited her and her bump was definitely adorable. He just wanted to touch it and feel the twins, but he didn’t want to push the boundaries they had silently set. He loved to see her relaxed, happy, and… well, pregnant in fact.

“Help me up and I’ll help you walk,” she suggested. He extended his hands towards her, smiling. With some difficulty, she managed to get out of the chair and take a little of his weight. “Stay awake on me, Skywalker.”

“I am awake, Naberrie,” he squeezed her hands. “I forgot to say something I am also grateful for.”

“What’s that?”

Anakin hesitated for a moment. “I am grateful to have you back in my life.” She stared at him for a moment, silently biting her lip. Then she leaned in, closing the distance between them, and pressed her mouth against his. Anakin sighed and kissed her back softly and it was like coming home. Her taste, her lips, her scent… everything that haunted him for a decade. Then she pulled back, her cheeks flushed.

“I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry.”

“No, come back here,” he whined softly and pulled her into his arms again and kissed her passionately. He had been dying to do it ever since he laid eyes on her. She moaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers into his hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her into his body as much as she could, with the twins between them. Breaking the kiss, he nuzzled her cheek.

“Can we do this again?” she whispered against his ear. “It’s so different now, we have the kids...”

“I don’t know, but I want to,” he confessed. “For us. For them. Ever since you entered that office… I don’t know, I just… you consumed me all over again and that wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t real… right?”

“Whether or not the feelings are real isn’t the problem,” she pointed out. “It’s where they might lead us. We could be wrong, this could be wrong.”

“Does it feel wrong? Or are we so consumed by guilt over not fighting harder for each other, that we’re letting it influence  _ this _ ?”

“What is  _ this, _ Anakin? Would I be your girlfriend again? Are we getting married? Friends with benefits?”

“Can we start with being my girlfriend and work from there? I’m not saying to elope, I don’t think our mothers would ever speak to us again, but… my relationship with Amee didn’t work out for one reason. I’ve always,  _ always  _ loved you.”

“Ani…”

“I can step back and blame it on the wine tomorrow. It’s up to you.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “Because there’s nothing I want more. And I’m scared that I will fuck this up again, that I will somehow get us to a place even worse than last time, and I can’t go down that road. I can’t lose you again.”

“I think we’re wiser now and there’s so much more at stake here,” he placed his hands on her stomach and felt a small kick. He smiled, rubbing the spot his son or his daughter had just kicked. “We have all the tools to make it work. I want to make it work.”

“And you’re everything that I’ve wanted for my whole life,” she confessed, “I love you too.”

Anakin smiled brightly at her and leaned down to kiss her again. And again. And again.

“We can’t tell anyone else about this,” she mumbled against his lips. “Everyone’s going to gloat.”

“Oh, please,” he sighed. “I think I heard our mothers making wedding plans tonight. We were goners as soon as you moved in.”

“Which is why we can’t let them know for as long as possible. I know they’re going to find out, but I’d rather have  _ less _ pressure from them, not more.”

He kissed her cheek sweetly. “As you wish, Angel,” he whispered, using the nickname he had saved just for her.

“So…” She bit her lip, suddenly feeling very shy. “Now what?”

“Sleep?” He suggested. “It was a long day and I know we are both tired.”

“Can it be the same bed? Purely for cuddling.”

“Purely for cuddling,” he smiled widely. “As long as your hormones are not driving you wild,” he kissed her one more time before taking her hand and heading towards the master bedroom.

“You think you’re  _ real  _ attractive, don’t you?”

“I know I am,” he took her knuckles to his lips and pressed a kiss on her fingers.

“Are you  _ trying _ to mess with my hormones?”

“I don’t know, is it working?”

“I don’t think I should tell you,” she laughed as they reached the bedroom and she fell onto his bed, rubbing at her stomach as she unhooked her bra and pulled it out through her sleeve. “You’ve already got a big enough ego.”

“Fine,” he climbed in bed after her and leaned down to kiss her again. “I missed you, Angel.”

“I missed you too, Ani. So much.” She snuggled close. “Honestly, I think I missed moments like this more than anything else.”

He pulled the blankets over them and kissed her forehead, as he hugged her close. “I know, I feel the same.”

“G’night,” she mumbled into his chest.

“I love you, Angel,” he whispered in her ear.

“Love you too.”

* * *

“Can we scratch them off  _ now _ ?” Pooja whined, waving her scratch card in front of Anakin. “I wanna know what the babies are!”

“The babies are babies,” he teased her. “Is everyone ready?” He waved the black scratch card, with two silver circles and “Boy or Girl?” written in delicate gold.

“Ready!” Ahsoka dramatically spun her quarter around her fingers.

“On your mark, get set, go,” Padmé chuckled as she started to scratch at her own ticket.

Excitedly, Anakin scratched his own ticket. Ahsoka had planned everything. Ever since the sonogram that they had earlier that week, Ahsoka had been there ready to receive the envelope with the gender of the babies and plan the final details of the gender reveal party. Silver and golden balloons all over the house, very neutral decoration as to not give anything away and a lot of games later, Ahsoka had distributed the scratch cards so the final reveal could be made.

The first circle was pink and Anakin grinned widely.  _ A girl! _

“Anakin.” Padmé held up her own card, only scratched enough to reveal a hint of pink and blue in each circle. “One of each,” she said, beaming brightly.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he said with a wide smile and throwing caution out of the window, because he didn’t care anymore, he leaned forward and kissed her soundly on the lips. Just on instinct, Padmé leaned in and accepted it happily.

“I knew it!” Sola shouted triumphantly as Ruwee and Darred cleared their throats. Jobal and Shmi practically  _ cackled,  _ and Padmé pulled away from the kiss, blushing furiously.

“I love you, but I also kind of hate you right now,” she whispered to Anakin.

“I love you and I don’t care about them,” he shrugged off their families’ reactions. “I care about you and them,” he placed his hands on her stomach. “Our son and our daughter. I am the happiest man alive.”

“I’m pretty happy too,” she admitted. “It feels a lot more real now, doesn’t it?”

He felt one kick, followed by another and laughed. “I think they’re telling us they have always been real.”

“Oh, you two hush,” she scoffed, rubbing at the spot where the kick had been. “Active little monsters, aren’t they?”

“Do not call my babies little monsters,” he leaned down to kiss her stomach.

“They’re  _ our _ babies, and you’ll be calling them monsters too when one of them poops their diaper and it goes all the way up their back.”

“You’re so dramatic,” he shook his head.

“Fine, you’re on diaper duty forever then.” She kissed the top of his head.

“Does this mean I can’t marry Anakin anymore?” Pooja interrupted.

“No, honey, you can’t, but I’m sure there will be plenty of other guys when you get older,” Padmé promised her niece.

“I don’t think I like you anymore,” Pooja pouted and huffed.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Sola chided her daughter. “Anakin was never going to marry you anyway, pumpkin.”

“What if I’m just Uncle Ani, sweetie?” Anakin tried.

“Does that mean you’re getting married?”

“ _ Mom _ ,” Padmé groaned in response to Jobal’s question. “He’d be Uncle Ani anyway, he’s the dad of their cousins.”

“It’s a fair question,” Shmi shrugged.

“Do you guys have baby names already?” Kitster asked, changing the conversation. 

“No,we were waiting for the reveal to start planning,” Padmé answered, thankful for the distraction. “The only thing we knew was off the table was Anakin Junior.”

“That is a terrible name,” Ahsoka agreed.

“Yeah, one Anakin is enough, I would quit with two,” Kitster nodded.

Anakin snorted and then laughed. “You two think you’re really funny, don’t you?”

“You make it so easy,” Ahsoka teased.

“Either way, we’ll only tell you their names once they’re born,” Anakin quipped, kissing Padmé’s cheek.

“Right,” she agreed. “It’s going to be a surprise for everyone. For now, there are cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, and a game of Monopoly set up.”

“Why, because you hate us?”

“Yeah, they want to watch this family burn,” Sola muttered. “Monopoly destroys families.”

“Like Uno plus draw four cards,” Ahsoka quipped.

“What would you prefer? The Game of Life?” Padmé argued.

“It’s your party, we play the games you want to play.”

“Then we’re staying with Monopoly, and Anakin and I are going to crush all of you. Right, babe?” Everyone knew, might as well embrace it.

“As we always did,” he beamed at her, caressing her stomach and he couldn’t be happier in that moment.

“Gross,” Ryoo groaned, but that just made Padmé laugh and kiss Anakin soundly on the mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, I guess we didn't time this quite right for Thanksgiving. Oh well!  
> Just dropping a note to remind everyone that we are still running our Flufftober continuation survey until Tuesday (and to all our American readers who can do so, but haven't done so yet, also VOTE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION!!!!!) The survey link is below. See you next Sunday!  
> https://forms.gle/yJ8oMYNeyy3sLFz66


	10. Learning Domesticity

Padmé very carefully stepped out of the bathtub, wrapping her robe around her body as she made her way to the kitchen. The twins were craving something, but she didn’t know what yet. She’d figure it out when she got to the fridge.

“Hi, love,” Anakin said as he entered the kitchen and he had clearly come straight from the gym. His shirt was off and over his shoulder and his chest was glistening with a thin layer of sweat over his muscles, down to his navel. His hair was curling at the ends with sweat and he wore loose gym pants. “How was your bath?” He asked as he reached in the fridge to take out a bottle of water and chug down its contents, small drips falling from his lips.

“Tepid, but relaxing.” She avoided looking at him as she checked the pantry. “Do you, um, have anything you can put on?”

He gave her a funny look. “I am going to take a shower, so I’ll be dressed in a minute,” he chuckled. “I know, I know, I’m gross but I do have a strict workout routine and these abs don’t appear when I live on carbs,” he shrugged and grabbed an apple, stretching around Padmé to reach the fruit bowl.

“No, it’s not that,” she sucked in a breath as a sculpted bicep passed her cheek. “You’re not gross at all. I just. Um.”

He bit down on the apple and chewed slowly. “Yes?” He prompted, leaning against the kitchen island.

“The workouts are,” she grabbed a full box of cereal and a jar of peanut butter from the pantry, “well, they’re working. You look really great.”

“Aw, love, you flatter me,” he wrapped his arms around her, setting his hands on her stomach and kissing the curve of her neck. 

“Augh, don’t,” she whined. “You’ll make me hornier than I already am.”

Anakin paused for a moment, before he laughed, but it was as if he had realized something. “Ah, I see,” he whispered as he toyed with the belt of her robe and started to pull it loose. “Do you really want me to put clothes on?”

“You know I have to say yes.”

“Why?” The belt came undone and he slipped his hands under the fabric to fell the soft skin on her stomach as he skimmed his fingers over it.

“Because if I say no,” she took a shuddering hiss of air, “next thing you know, I’ll be asking you to eat me out on the island.”

“Oh, then maybe I should leave you all alone, to eat your peanut butter,” he brushed his lips over the shell of her ear as his fingers traveled lower, until he was able to tease her.

“Aniiiii,” she whined. “That’s not fair.” They’d been back together for over a month, and while this was hardly the first time she’d been turned on by him, it was really only getting worse as her pregnancy progressed and her hormones became increasingly volatile.

“I know we wanted to take it slow for now, but,” he pressed himself against her, “it’s really getting harder, baby. You don’t know how sexy you are.”

“You have a pregnancy kink,” she realized. “Well, that explains a  _ lot _ .”

He pursed his lips. “I don’t know about a kink, you’re the only pregnant woman I am attracted to,” he kissed from down her ear, her neck, and over her exposed shoulder. “Like what?”

“You think I haven’t seen you checking me out more than usual the bigger I get?”

“Well, your stomach is not the only thing that pregnancy is boosting,” he teased, as Padmé’s body became fuller, he became even more attracted to her. “Maybe I have a ‘Pregnant Padmé’ kink. Not pregnant kink in general. I just love to have more of you to… well, love. And these are  _ my  _ babies,” he emphasized, pressing his palms on the skin of her smooth stomach. “I just… it makes me even more attracted to you than usual.”

“Oh, my  _ God, _ she groaned, pressing her legs together as she felt her arousal building. Her knuckles turned white around the peanut butter jar. “ _ Ani _ .”

“What?” He chuckled, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she begged, burying her face in the collar of her robe.

“Fine, I’ll go take my shower and put on some clothes,” he kissed her cheek and pulled away, grinning. She pressed her face against the fridge, trying to let the metal cool her skin. She  _ hated  _ being undone so easily by him. And her hormones. The lack of control was almost humiliating. “You know where I’ll be if you change your mind,” he called out.

“Ugh,” she groaned as she refocused her energy on the original reason for coming into the kitchen, her peanut butter and cereal. She put a scoop of each down in a bowl, then paused for a moment and opened the fridge, adding a squirt of ketchup on top of her snack. “You two are gross,” she scolded the twins as she dug in.

Meanwhile, Anakin took a quick shower. He couldn’t be gone more than twenty minutes, when he returned to the kitchen, dripping wet, curly hair framing his angular and sculpt face and a single towel wrapped around his waist. “I’m so hungry,” he mumbled as he opened the fridge. “We might have to order our lunch, don’t you think?”

“That might be best,” she agreed, taking her last spoonful. “Okay, I think that might be the worst thing the twins have made me eat.”

Anakin snorted as he grabbed a yogurt. “The pregnancy is not over yet.”

“Don’t make it a challenge for them. They’ll take it.”

“Of course they will,” he laughed. “When did  _ we  _ ever refuse a challenge?”

“That’s what worries me. These kids are probably going to come out of me doing quantum physics or something. Just to prove they can.”

“We are overachievers but we will keep it real for them. Just because they’ll be mini-billionaires, doesn’t mean that we won’t teach them what our parents taught us.”

“Oh, of course,” she nodded, moving to wash her bowl with a sigh. “I wasn’t even thinking about that. I just don’t see how we couldn’t  _ not _ make a pair of super babies.”

“We are pretty spectacular,” he leaned forward and kissed her before pulling away, pursing his lips. “I can’t believe they made you eat that.”

“Yeah, me either, but it could have been a  _ lot _ worse,” she pointed out. “When Sola was pregnant with Pooja, she almost put dish soap on a burger because, and I quote, ‘it looked so fruity and sweet.’”

Anakin made a face as he finished his yogurt. “Order lunch while I dress? I might have some work to catch up to in the afternoon, but I don’t have to go to the office.”

“Okay, what are you hungry for?”

“Defeating the whole purpose of working out, how about a burger? And fries? Oh, a milkshake. Just don’t tell Rex I’m eating junk food.”

“I could get you a turkey burger?” she suggested dryly. “As a compromise?”

“With all that I deserve,” he nodded as if he was an excited toddler. “Thank you, love,” he pressed a kiss to her cheek, his lips lingering.

“Not a problem, sweetie.” She took out her phone and pulled up the website for Dex’s Diner, searching the menu. “And I’ll get fries for myself this time, don’t worry.”

Anakin blew her a kiss as he walked towards the bedroom to get dressed. Padmé picked a grilled cheese for herself and placed the order before following him. “Should be here in thirty minutes.”

He was sliding a t-shirt over his body and grinned. “Good. Going to do any paperwork today or is your team giving you a Saturday off for a change?”

“I was going to do a few video meet and greets, but they have me on a five day week now,” she admitted.

“Good. You can read the Big Baby Name Book or whatever is called,” he chuckled. “I have a few meetings, coding to review, and some budgets to approve. Please distract me when it’s four or five, if I get too obsessed, I won’t rest,” he sighed, knowing himself.

“Some things don’t change,” she laughed, moving over to kiss his cheek.

He was greedier and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her soundly on the lips, slipping his tongue inside of her mouth. She moaned into the kiss, pressing her body against his. “It’s unfair that you tell me to get clothes and yet, you walk around naked, just in a bathrobe. It’s just so easy to ravish you like this.”

“Let me go and I’ll go put on your sweatshirt and my sweatpants,” she countered.

Before she could leave, he grabbed her wrist. “I respect our boundaries, but are we ever having sex?” He quipped lightly. “Or will you strip me with your eyes for the rest of our life? And get yourself off in your baths?” He raised his eyebrows. She bit her lip, choosing her words carefully. 

“I’m just worried about my health. I’m already a fall risk, and I remember us being… energetic. I don’t want to end up in the hospital again.”

“I understand, love, I do. You should have shared it with me before, I wouldn’t have teased you so much. I don’t want you uncomfortable and maybe, if you feel like it, we can ask Dr. Che if it’s safe. We don’t have to be  _ energetic  _ as we once were, not for now at least.”

“I mean, I wasn’t exactly sure how to say it,” she admitted, leaning against him. “It still feels like we’re in the early stages, and I didn’t want to mess things up.”

“I love you. I want us to talk about anything,” he kissed the top of her head.

“I love you too, and I’ll be better in the future,” she promised.

“Baby steps. However… I can still placate your hormones in other ways,” he smirked. “If you want me to?”

“I thought you had work?” she retorted with a smile.

“Oh, the perks of being CEO.”

“Well, if you  _ insist,” _ she sighed dramatically and moved towards the bed, fiddling with the sash of her robe. “Come and get it, hotshot.”

“The funny thing is, you can’t see my head,” he smirked.

“And why is that funny?”

He shrugged and just kissed her. Maybe they couldn’t have sex like they wanted to, but he could make her relax. He could make her squirm and hear her delicious, sexy sounds. He missed that intimacy. The way he made her feel. Her breathing picked up as the kiss grew more heated, a whimper escaping from her mouth and into his. “Lay back down on the bed, baby,” he muttered in her ear, as her robe fell to the ground and she stood before him, naked and pregnant. He couldn’t have been more turned on, but this was about Padmé. She obeyed, settling back into the duvet with a smile.

Anakin parted her legs, hungrily devouring every inch of her body as he knelt and kissed up her inner thigh, letting his tongue taste her and tease her. She whimpered as the pleasure began to build. Anakin pressed a kiss to her womanhood. His tongue separated her folds as he searched for her clit and as he found the little bundle of nerves, he sucked sharply on it. He missed her taste. He nearly came with the memories of their intimacy of so long ago. “Ani,” she groaned. “I’m gonna—oh!” Her speech was cut off by a moan of pleasure.

“Easy, baby, enjoy this,” he whispered with a chuckle and continued his ministrations. The board licks over her folds. Little, teasing nips and sucking on her sensitive flesh. With one strangled gasp, Padmé spilled into his mouth, her entire body shuddering with the force of the orgasm. He licked all of her spill, humming as he pulled back and dropped a kiss on her stomach, before grinning up at her. “Satisfied, love?”

“Very,” she exhaled happily. “You still got it.”

“And you still taste heavenly,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her lips. “Me, on the other hand, I think I need another shower before work,” he chuckled. “But it was so worth it, love.”

“I’ll pay you back at some point,” she promised with a smile as she wrapped the duvet around herself. “But right now, I want a nap.”

He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Sleep well, love.”

“Have a good work day, sweetie.”

* * *

“I’m home,” Padmé called as she walked into the penthouse, kicking off her shoes and collapsing into the nearest armchair. “Ani?”

“Hi,” Anakin entered the living room, beaming and kissed her forehead. “How was your day, love?”

“Pretty good,” she said, rubbing at her stomach, where the baby bump was getting even more pronounced. “I had a long phone call with Vokara during lunch.”

“What about?” he asked as he placed her feet on his lap and started rubbing them.

“The guidelines for having safe sex while pregnant,” she answered with a sigh. “Wanna know what she said?”

He grinned. “Definitely. What did she say? We should abstain until they’re out and you’re cleared or…?”

“Technically, since having twins puts me at a higher risk for early labor, we need to abstain,” admitted Padmé. “I’m not thrilled about it, but I guess we don’t really have much of a choice.”

“It’s something that we have plenty of time to do again, what matters is your safety and our babies,” he smiled.

“They’re napping right now, but do you want to say hi?” she asked, tugging her blouse open for him to see her belly. It was pronounced enough now that there was no real way to hide it. “I think the chart says they’re the size of bananas now?”

“I love how those charts compare the babies to fruit,” Anakin chuckled and leaned forward, kissing the top of her stomach. “Hi, little loves.”

“I think it’s just because it’s something familiar,” she said. “Anyway, are we ready to talk about names, or do you want to talk about something else? Because I had some thoughts.”

“Tell me all of your thoughts,” he smiled, rubbing her stomach tenderly. “Do you want to eat something first?”

“Oh, were you cooking?” she asked, eyes brightening. “Yes, I’m starving.”

“Stay here, I’ll bring it to you,” he chuckled, standing up.

“Thank you,” she called after him. No sooner had he left than she felt one of the twins kicking. “Oh, come on, why couldn’t you have done that while Daddy was here? Are you mad at him?”

Anakin returned a few minutes later with a steaming plate of vegetarian pasta, plus a fork. “Here you go. Are they kicking? Did they wait for me to leave?”

“Yes, they did, so either they have your sense of humor, or you did something to annoy them,” Padmé answered, shoveling the pasta in her mouth without a care for whether or not the sauce got on her face. “ _ Fuck _ , this is good.”

“I did nothing to annoy them, did I, loves?” Anakin pouted as he placed his hands on her stomach. “You probably just have my sense of humor. Or mommy’s stubbornness.” 

“You are  _ way  _ more stubborn than I am!” she protested. “But anyway, the names. I had some ideas but I was thinking we should narrow it down first. How do you feel about the concept of naming them after relatives?”

“I’m not that fond of that idea,” Anakin grimaced. “Someone’s feelings always get hurt and it’s a burden to be placed on a child.”

“I thought the same thing, but I wanted to check with you,” she admitted. “Maybe for middle names. But that’s less of a discussion than first names. I was thinking, maybe we can call the boy Luke?”

“Luke?” He questioned, experimenting with the name.

“I’d like to say there’s some special meaning behind the name, but really, I just heard a lady yelling it at her kid on the street, and I liked it. Luke Skywalker.”

Anakin laughed. “Luke Skywalker. I kind of like it, actually. It goes well with Skywalker and it’s a cute name,” he nodded. “It also matches the name I researched for the girl.”

“Oh, tell me,” she giggled as she finished the pasta and let out a very unladylike burp. “And excuse me.”

He shook his head and smiled. “I thought of Leia. It means ‘child of heaven’.”

“It’s cute,” she agreed. “And it kind of feels like a mix of our two religions. One a little more Christian and one a little more Jewish. Luke and Leia Skywalker.”

“Luke and Leia. They’re kind of perfect for each other, aren’t they?” 

“Yeah, we’re pretty good at this,” she nodded with a smile. “But speaking of religion, we should probably talk about that at some point too. Especially since I’m no longer planning to move out.”

“I mean, it will be good if we raise them in both of our religions and when they are older, we let them choose what they really want.”

“So, does that mean a bris for Luke is out of the question?”

“Explain to me again what that is?”

“Ritual circumcision performed eight days after a baby is born,” she answered. “It’s completely safe, Ani.”

Anakin grimaced and made a face. “I…”

“You’re circumcised too, buddy, and it’s for no other reason than a cereal tycoon suggesting it would stop your ancestors from masturbating. The only real difference is whether it’s done in a hospital or in a temple.”

“I guess that it’s okay, yeah,” he nodded slowly. She kissed him on the cheek, leaving a wide smear of sauce on his skin.

“Thanks, sweetie.”

“I just don’t understand the whole ordeal of a party, we could do it in the hospital, but,” he shrugged. “Fine.”

“It’s important to my faith. I’m not going to ask you to skip out on a baptism, assuming you want that for them.”

“I do and I want to pick their godparents too, because I feel it’s always important to have those people in their lives. It’s very difficult to explain why, I just love the bond that it’s formed between them.” 

“Let me guess, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.”

“Yes, but if you want, we can have individual godparents. Like I can choose a godfather and a godmother, and you can too and each twin will have their respective godparents.”

“I trust your judgement,” she promised, kissing him on the cheek. “And I think that’s further down the line. We did what I was hoping, we got the kids named.”

“Yes, now we just have to hold it over everyone’s head because we can be mean like that,” he smirked.

“You’d be a terrible politician,” she laughed. “Probably abuse your power and take a million bribes.”

“That’s offensive,” he poked her sides. “I’m no politician but I am the CEO of a multi-billion dollar industry. Do you say I play dirty, Madam Mayor?”

“No more than any other billionaire,” she retorted playfully, “but then, if I had my way, there’d be exactly zero billionaires in the world.”

“Sometimes, I wonder why we love each other so much,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

“Because the universe has a bizarre sense of humor,” she retorted, “and  _ you _ decided we were soulmates before we’d even hit puberty.”

“Was I wrong?” He asked cockily. “I wasn’t, was I?”

“Not in the least,” she admitted. 

He kissed her, sighing into her lips. Every time they kissed, they were together, it just made him realize how empty his life had been for the past decade. Now, he was complete. Nothing else was missing and he loved her, he loved her more than words.

* * *

“Love, do you think you can get the next Friday and Monday off?”

“Maybe,” Padmé looked up from the budget notes she was reviewing. “Why, what’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Well, I did read that before having a baby, a couple could have a babymoon. You know, some vacation time before we no longer have vacation time. Or time alone. Or privacy and sleep all around,” he chuckled. “I bought a house in the Hamptons a few months back and I wanted to take you there. We have a private beach, the weather is going to be perfect… what do you say?”

“A long weekend,” she mused, “could be fun. I’d have to double-check with Dr. Che and make sure my team can handle me being gone for that long.”

“I already called Dr. Che. She told me we need to be careful, any contractions or Braxton Hicks, whatever small happens, that we need to visit a hospital, but other than that… she told us to have fun.”

“Look at you,” she smiled, “taking the initiative. It’s kind of ridiculously hot.”

“Oh, Angel, you’ve never seen me whip my board of directors in shape,” he smirked. “Speak with your team and let me know. I’ll get Darra to send a cleaning crew to the house and to fully stock the fridge, so it’s ready for us. We can do a ton of online shopping for our babies, take long walks on the beach… it’s going to be nice, I know it.”

She blinked at him slowly, then held her pen clenched in her fist like a knife. “Who are you and what the fuck have you done with Anakin Skywalker? Because the Anakin Skywalker I know  _ hated _ long walks on the beach. And the beach in general.”

“I love when you get surprised that I’m not seventeen anymore,” his lips twitched upwards, trying not to laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, sand still irritates me. But as long as we get to walk along the shore, I’ll be alright. I do like water, you remember that, right?” 

“I remember you liking it so much that you cannonballed into a pool and got my dress soaked at our eighth grade Memorial Day barbecue,” she admitted with a chuckle as she put the pen down. “I wouldn’t speak to you for a week.”

“I bought you a new dress, didn’t I?” He came around her desk to kiss her temple. “I always did everything to make you happy,” he nuzzled her cheek.

“You did,” she agreed, “I think that was when our mothers first started secretly planning our wedding.”

“They might be dusting off their plans,” he chuckled.

“I’m sure they did it as soon as they found out about the samples mix-up,” groaned Padmé. “Is there wifi at your beach house? And more importantly, can you shut it off?”

“I can make sure we are only contacted if people are horribly dying,” he chuckled. “We can log-off our jobs, our social apps, our crazy families and their obsession with getting us hitched. Just us. I promise.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

“I love you,” he pressed a sweet kiss to her lips.

“Love you too. Let me finish with this, then I’ll call my team and we can order takeout. You’ve been working too hard, you shouldn’t have to cook.”

“Agreed,” he kissed her cheek. “I’ll call our usual place.”

“Double the usual.” She rubbed her stomach. “Leia and Luke are suddenly extra hungry.”

“Everything for my family.”

“You really are the best.”

“What can I say?” He slipped out of the office. “You got lucky,” he winked before leaving.

* * *

“This is not a beach house,” Padmé said as the car pulled into the driveway. “It’s… I don’t even know what to call it! How much did that cost you?”

Anakin pursed his lips. “Is that a question you really want answered?”

“Probably not, but,  _ my God _ , Ani, it’s massive!”

“It has space for us to get all of our family together next vacation. Four bedrooms. Five bathrooms. An amazing pool that I believe Ahsoka has filled with a unicorn and other toys,” he shook his head. “And I do love the zen-like aspect. It’s very private, away from everyone. I loved it and bought it on the spot.”

“Okay, okay, you don’t need to sell me on it quite so hard,” she laughed. “It is beautiful, I was just kind of expecting something on a much smaller scale.”

“Then I should probably avoid showing you the plans of the estate I want to build in New York’s suburbs,” he smirked and got out of the car to get their bags from the trunk.

“Is there something wrong with your obscenely fabulous penthouse?” she asked as she awkwardly got out of the car.

“What do you have against fabulous penthouses and massive summer houses?” He teased. “I’m a billionaire. I can drop 30 million on a house,” he nodded towards the house at their side as he placed the bags on the ground and locked the car.

“I have nothing against the penthouse,” she protested, pressing a hand against her stomach. “Or even the summer house. I was more wondering if you were planning to sell the penthouse and move into this hypothetical suburban estate, or if it was going to be house number three.”

“Let’s get inside and I’ll tell you more about it,” he picked the bags and headed towards the double-glass doors, pressing his hand into a hidden panel of the house.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming, not so fast,” she complained, waddling after him awkwardly. “I have two babies on board here.”

The doors opened automatically and the windows began to open as well. “The house has an AI interface that when it recognizes my fingerprints, it activates… everything. Energy, water, pool heating system,” he shrugged. “We need to configure yours, so it has the same effect,” he placed the bags near the couch. “Sit down, rest, and I’ll get us drinks so I explain  _ my  _ five year plan,” he smirked teasingly.

“Oh, my god, you can’t talk dirty to me,” she groaned as she sank into the couch. “Vokara said we’re not allowed!”

She heard him cackle from the kitchen as he reappeared a few minutes later with two tall glasses of fresh orange juice. He handed one to her and sat at her side. “It’s actually not a five year plan, but a long-term, no time defined plan.”

“I’m listening,” she admitted as she took a long sip from her glass. “Go on, I’ll try to keep it in my pants. What’s the plan?”

“I had this plan from the moment I decided for surrogacy. That I was going to be a father. You have been to Scarsdale before, right? Well, I bought an estate there. It’s… huge. Really, really big. A huge garden, pool, and a magnificent house. I have some house plans prepared for the remodel of the whole space. I’m amplifying the pool, adding a small park for kids and a big garden area, per my mom’s insistence. The house has around ten bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms, a tennis field, I want to add a basketball one, too and a guest house,” he explained. “I wanted to raise my baby, future babies, out of the city and more in the country. I know that now we both have to make those decisions. I would still keep the penthouse, for business purposes only, because of Lightspeed. But the Skywalker Estate was a dream I always had. And I can fortunately make it happen.”

“It sounds incredible,” she admitted.

“But?”

“But I’m wondering how long it’ll be before using it will really be practical,” Padmé confessed as she took another drink. “I had a loose plan to run for another term as Mayor, that generally means staying in the Five Boroughs. And if I won, it’d be another four years.”

“Well, yeah, I know. Like I said, I began to plan this before all of this mix up happened,” he said. “The house is not going anywhere and the construction hasn’t even begun. It can take a year to have it fully ready and then we can use it for vacation time, parties, weekends… whatever we want and when it’s all said and done, we can move permanently. It’s something that we can discuss with time.”

“This might be pregnancy brain talking but I’m a little confused. Is it or isn’t it built yet, you kind of made it sound a few minutes ago like it was already done and waiting for us.”

“The house is built. It needs to be remodeled inside and out. The grounds are going to be most of the work.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t sound too happy.”

“I’m taking it in,” she corrected. “It’s a lot of information all at once. And the kids are sucking away my brains to use for themselves. But it’s beautiful, Ani, the picture of it in my head, it’s so beautiful...”

“I’ll take you there. If this is something that you can agree on, I want to make the changes that you want too. We can postpone this, of course, until after the twins are born.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” She stopped and tilted her head. “Do you hear that? It sounds like scratching.”

“Scratching?” He questioned, looking around. “Yeah. It does. Wonder where it’s from.”

“Help me get up and we can try to find out,” she suggested, setting down her glass. 

He helped her up and looked around the living room. By the doors that lead to the pool, he saw a small and furry cat, stretching at the corner. It was definitely a stray, grey and white fur, and no collar visible. “Wait, I think I found our new housemate,” he chuckled. “I never saw him around, I’m afraid to spook him.”

“Let me see.” Padmé moved closer and let out a little squeal at the sight of the little creature. “Oh, my  _ God, _ he’s so cute! I know we were talking about a Golden Lab, but...” she trailed off, biting her lip.

“If he warms up to us,” Anakin rolled his eyes as he crouched down and held out his hand to the cat, that eyed them both warily with big, blue eyes. He approached the hand and gave it a sniff, before rubbing his nose against his hand, purring. Anakin chuckled and picked him up. “We can keep him,” he beamed. “But I want a Golden Lab too,” he pouted. 

“We’ll talk about it once the babies are in the picture,” she countered, reaching out to scratch the cat behind the ears. “Better to house-train the animals one at a time, don’t you think?”

“It’s good that babies grow with animals. I’ve read it somewhere,” he smiled. “He seems like he’s already house trained and he reacts to strangers really well.”

“Well, good, because I also read somewhere that it’s dangerous for pregnant people to handle kitty litter, so that’s going to be your job,” she said, kissing him on the cheek sweetly.

“Do we even know if he wants to be adopted?” he smirked. The cat purred and rubbed his head against Anakin’s chest. “He’s certainly lovable.”

“Yes, he is, and you look very cute holding him,” Padmé laughed. “If he doesn’t try to leave, we’ll take him home at the end of the weekend, deal?

“Deal,” he set the cat on the couch and he shook himself, sitting and licking his paw. “Well, he looks comfortable. Are you hungry, Angel?”

“I could do with a snack,” she admitted.

“I’ll make us something quick and we can get our weekend started,” he kissed her forehead with a smile. “Wait here with our new temporary member. I’ll be right back.”

“I miss you already,” she called.


	11. The Dramatic Entrance

“Ani,” Padmé moaned, rubbing at her stomach as her eyes opened. “Ani, my stomach’s really hurting.”

“Hmm?” Anakin rolled over and sat up, turning on the light. “Why? What’s wrong?” He asked mid-yawn. “Are they kicking too much?”

“No, it’s different,” she frowned. “Maybe...do you have the Braxton-Hicks page bookmarked on your phone? I think it might be that.”

“Braxton-Hicks is sort of your body preparing for the birth, like contractions,” he frowned worriedly. “Maybe we should call Dr. Che? Or head to the hospital?”

“I don’t know. The whole spotting thing a couple of weeks ago has me worried, but what if I’m being paranoid?” she groaned as another stab of pain hit her stomach. “Fuck it, call her. Call her now.”

“I’m calling, I’m calling,” he scrambled up to grab his phone. “But we’re heading to the hospital anyway.”

“I don’t want to go to the hospital just to be told it’s Braxton Hicks,” she complained, grabbing the glass of water on her bedside table and taking a drink.

Meanwhile, Anakin was calling Dr. Che and placed it on speakerphone.

“ _ Mr. Skywalker? Is everything alright? _ ”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Che, to call you at this hour, but Padmé has been having some pains in her lower stomach and we don’t know if we should go to the hospital, because it might just be Braxton-Hicks, but she had spotting a couple of weeks ago and we’re worried.”

“ _ I get the urge to panic, but just calm down. When did this start?” _

“A few weeks ago, some spotting,” Anakin frowned. “It stopped and the twins have been active. Very active. But she woke up in pain.”

_ “Okay, I wouldn’t say go to the hospital just yet, but do keep an eye on her. Padmé, are you there?” _

“Yep,” Padmé groaned. 

_ “I want you to change positions, drink a lot of water, track the contractions. If they’re irregular and fading out, it’s just Braxton Hicks. If it gets worse, then you call me again and head for the hospital. Okay?” _

“Got it— _ owww _ , _ ” _ Padmé let out a whimper of pain as she tried to move. “Oh, God.”

“What?” Anakin asked in a whisper.

_ “Padmé… if you’re bleeding… you need to go to the hospital. You need a check-up and text me because I will meet you there, _ ” Vokara said urgently.

“I’m not bleeding, I don’t think. I can’t see,” she grumbled. “It just hurts to move, I’m huge.”

“Vokara, I don’t want to take chances,” Anakin winced. “I’ll take her to the hospital and have them do a check-up on her.”

“ _ I understand, Anakin. If they see anything at all, call me and I’ll be there in a heartbeat, _ ” Vokara sighed. “ _ Good night. _ ” She hung up and Padmé huffed stubbornly.

“You’re panicking,” she scolded weakly as she tried again to move. 

“I am, but I will have zero regrets later,” he said, already grabbing some clothes. “Come on,” he said gently, as he approached her and extended his hand. “I don’t want to leave anything to chance. I don’t care that it’s probably Braxton-Hicks.”

“Okay, but you’re gonna need to lift me up from the back,” she groaned. “I’m not sure if I can move otherwise.”

Anakin nodded and carefully pulled her up. “How do you feel?” He asked with a slight grimace, helping her walk towards the door.

“Stomach still hurts,” she admitted, “and it hurts to move. I think we need a wheelchair.”

“I’ll call reception and see if they have one they can bring up,” he sat her in one of the armchairs. “I’ll be right back.”

* * *

“So,” Anakin started, trying to steel his nerves. He didn’t want Padmé to see how worried he was and how much he wanted to pace and tug at his roots. He needed to be calm for her, “I am not being paranoid, I did good by bringing her, didn’t I?”

“You did,” Vokara admitted, pursing her lips as nurses and orderlies moved Padmé onto the waiting gurney. Blood was staining the inside of Padmé’s pajama pants. “I’ll need a closer look to know for certain, but it’s entirely possible that we’re going to be looking at an early delivery for the twins.”

Anakin paled. "It's… it's too early. Isn't it? Won't that put them in danger? Padmé and the twins?"

“She is bleeding a lot, Anakin, the twins may already be in danger. Right now, I need you to go to the waiting room and let me work, I’ll send a nurse as soon as I’ve been able to get more information, alright?”

“Vokara, you have to let me be with her,” he begged. “I can’t just  _ wait. _ This is… she is… she is scared, she needs me. I need to be there. With her. Please, is there any chance I can be in the room? Please?”

The thought that his children could be in danger, that  _ Padmé  _ could be in danger, was terrifying for him. He couldn’t lose any of them. He would go mad. Their lives were just starting to go well, what was this, some sort of wicked sign?

“I’m sorry, Anakin, I need to work without distractions,” Vokara said grimly. “I know how stressful this is, but you have to trust me.”

He looked terrified but still, nodded. He couldn't keep Vokara any longer, Padmé needed her and he needed to warn their families of what was happening and their friends too. "Yeah, I get it," he said quietly. "Please, please keep me updated." She nodded, heading into the operating room after Padmé and the nurses.

In the waiting room, he called his mother. He couldn’t get into details, he was too frazzled, too worried. Shmi understood and replied that she would warn everyone on their side, but that he should speak with her family. And he did. He called her parents, that were in charge of speaking with Sola, and then he called Sabé and Dormé.

Then he had to sit and wait.

And it was  _ agony.  _ Pure, unadulterated, agony. He wanted to be with her. She was probably scared. For her and for the babies. How could the babies be born so,  _ so  _ early? They would probably need incubators and would be in the NICU for a long while. That is, if they both made it. A cold shiver went down his spine. That was unthinkable, of course they would make it.

“Anakin.” Ahsoka’s voice came from behind him, followed by her arms wrapping around his shoulders. He could feel her breathing heavily against him. “I was in the area, I dropped everything to get here as fast as I could. Is there any news?”

He let out a ragged breath as he took her hand and shook his head. “No. Nothing yet. I don’t even know… God, Snips, if something happens to any of them… I don’t know what will become of me…”

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” She hugged him tightly. “It’ll be okay.”

“Mr. Skywalker?” a nurse hurried towards them. “Can you come into the exam room?”

“Is Padmé okay?” Ahsoka asked. “What about the babies?”

Anakin stood up and squeezed her hand. “Stay here and see if anyone else arrives.”

“But—”

“Mr. Skywalker,” the nurse prompted again. “Quickly, please.”

“Ashoka, I have to go!” And he followed the nurse who hurried down the hall. She led him into a room where Padmé was lying in bed, clutching her stomach tightly as Vokara stood over her.

“I think I have an idea of what’s going on,” she said. “That’s the good news. The bad news is that, if I’m right, it’s a total placental abruption. The best hope we have for the children at this point is a c-section.”

“But it’s too early,” Padmé whispered hollowly.

Anakin immediately came to her side, and gripped her hand tightly in his. “What is our situation? What are the risks for her and our babies?” He asked directly.

“The situation is that the placenta has become detached from the inner wall of the uterus, and it’s suffocating the twins. If we leave them in there, they  _ will _ die. I know it’s frightening, but our only other option besides a c-section is inducing labor, and they might not have that kind of time.”

Anakin’s hold on Padmé’s hand tightened as he choked back his emotions. To hear Vokara put their risks so bluntly, made him want to cry out in despair, but he had to focus on Padmé. “What about her?” He asked quietly, and with his other hand, caressed Padmé’s cheek.

“It’s a little more difficult to say. But we need to make a decision quickly, the more dangerous it becomes for the twins, the more dangerous it is for her.”

“Padmé?” He asked, faintly. “It’s up to you, my love,” he whispered. 

“We don’t really have a choice, do we?” She whispered. “But what if we lose them? Our babies, our little Luke and Leia…”

“We have to believe that we won’t. If we wait, we really will lose them, but right now, they have a fighting chance,” he kissed her knuckles.

“Okay,” Padmé agreed weakly. “C-section. Do whatever you need to do in order to save them, Vokara.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Everything will be alright,” he whispered.

* * *

None of this was how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to be two months away from this, and when the twins  _ did  _ come, they were supposed to be doing this together. He should have been in there with Padmé, not waiting outside the OR while she struggled through a c-section.

“Sweetheart,” Shmi whispered, squeezing his shoulder. “You have to believe they will be fine.”

“There are so many risks… and we did everything by the book, this shouldn’t be happening. We’ve been careful,” he whispered brokenly.

“I know, but you’re both strong, you have to believe the twins will be too,” she reassured him, running a hand through his hair. “Take a deep breath for me right now, okay?”

“I can’t, mom, I just… I want to skip ahead to the part where Dr. Che tells me everything will be alright. That I can go home with my family. My whole family. That my babies are fine. That my girlfriend is fine. I want to get out of this nightmare.”

“You’re not helping anyone by stressing yourself out,” Shmi sighed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and guiding him along the hall. “Come on, we should get some food into you. Then we can wait at the viewing window in the NICU wing so that you’ll get to see the twins as soon as possible. Can you do that for me?”

“I can’t eat,” he said in anguish. “My stomach is in knots. Let’s go to the NICU wing. I want to be there to see them,” he whispered and in his mind, he thought about the pregnancy books he had read over time. “They must be tiny,” Anakin frowned. “Unable to breathe on their own. I just… I just wonder what did we do wrong for this to happen.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, sometimes these things just happen without a reason,” Shmi pointed out, keeping him in her embrace as they walked down the hall. “And it’s terrible and unfair to the families, but that doesn’t mean hope is lost.”

“I had this whole thing,” he started slowly. “I was planning on proposing the day we got home from the hospital with the twins. I already commissioned the ring,” he added as they reached the viewing window. “Now… it’s the last thing we should be thinking about… I wanted to officialize our coming home as a family and now, the next couple of weeks will be so difficult. The uncertainty of each day. Of our babies lives. I can’t… I can’t think of losing any of them.”

His mother just rubbed his back reassuringly, not saying anything as they stood, watching the window. There were only a few babies in the ward, and the only sounds to be heard were the machines humming and buzzing and beeping.

_ It’s going to be okay… right? _

* * *

“Anakin Skywalker?” A young nurse approached him, a clipboard in hand, covered in stickers of teddy bears and baby animals. “Dr. Che wants to see you in her office. It’s about the mayor and your kids.”

Anakin stood up so fast, he thought the room was spinning and he had to steady himself for a moment. Shmi stood after him and placed a hand on his back.

“I’ll go with him, can I?” Shmi asked.

“I could use her support,” Anakin nodded slowly.

“Of course, right this way.” The young woman guided them down the hall and pushed open the office door. Dr. Che was on the phone, but waved them in patiently.

He was shaking as his mother guided him to the chairs and when he sat, she did as well, taking his hand into hers and squeezing. It was heart wrenching as her son and her future daughter-in-law were going through and her grandbabies… God, she was scared but she needed to be Anakin’s rock right now. 

Dr. Che hung up. “I want to start with the good news. Everyone is alive. Okay?”

Both breathed a sigh of relief and Anakin spoke up. “But? There is a  _ but,  _ isn’t there?”

“A few of my colleagues are still doing additional testing on the twins, but from what I've seen and definitely know, your daughter looks to be in a very good place. Everything is apparently fully developed, she’s just very small for her age. Something that can easily be fixed with the right nutrients and a few weeks in an incubator. Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated with your son.”

Anakin swallowed the lump in his throat as he squeezed his mother’s hand. “So Leia is alright but Luke is in a delicate position?” He asked, more to himself maybe, to try and make sense of it. “What is wrong with him?”

“From what we’ve been able to assess so far, it looks like his lungs haven’t quite finished developing.”

“What now?” He asked quietly. “What will it take for him to fully recover?”

“Well, he’s definitely going to need an incubator, but it will probably be for longer than his sister, and he’ll have to be on a ventilator during that time as well. And even then, it isn’t a guarantee that he’ll be at one hundred percent. He could potentially be dealing with a respiratory illness for the rest of his life.”

Anakin leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. Respiratory illness… he shook his head. One thing at a time. They would cross that bridge when they got to it. “What… What happened for them to come this early? Do you know? And Padmé? How is she?”

“Padmé is doing fine, she was sleeping when I left her. My initial theory was right, we were dealing with a total placental abruption. The chance of such an occurrence goes up in a pregnancy with multiple babies, so it’s not entirely surprising. We’ll keep her under observation for a while too, just to make sure she’s staying healthy, and that there aren’t further complications, but she should make a full recovery.”

“Good. That’s good,” he said, relieved that everyone had survived but his worry for his babies, so small, so fragile. _Luke_ … “Can I see them?”

“I’ll check with the NICU supervisor, they might still be getting examined and tested. Do you want Padmé’s room number first?”

“Yes, please,” he nodded.

“Room 195. Down the hall and to the left.”

“You want me to come with you?” Shmi asked.

“No, I’ll be fine. Just tell everyone to go home, rest and that everything is alright,” he kissed his mother’s forehead. “Thank you, Dr. Che. For all your work.”

“You’re welcome.” The doctor nodded with a kind smile. “I think the twins have a very good chance, Anakin. They have two very strong parents to thank for that.”

“I know. I believe them. I have to,” he smiled before leaving the office and walking down the hallway, just like Dr. Che had told him. Entering Padmé’s room, he occupied the seat near her bed and just sighed, looking at her sleeping form. “You are the bravest woman I have ever met,” he whispered.

“Hmm?” she mumbled as she turned over. “Ani? Owww.” A hand went to her stomach. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Easy, easy,” he whispered. “Be still, you just went through surgery. Move as little as you can.”

“Twins?” she asked blearily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Are they okay?”

“In the NICU, being tested and examined by the pediatric team. Leia is strong and everything developed correctly, so she might spend less time in the incubator,” he said with a soft smile, tracing his fingers up and down her arm. “Luke… his lungs didn’t fully develop,” he said shakily. “He needs more attention and more time in the incubator but there is a risk that in the future he might develop a respiratory illness. But Dr. Che is confident he’ll be alright.”

“Fuck,” Padmé exhaled a little. “So I guess hugging them right now is out of the question? That sucks.”

“Yes, it is. While it sucks… I’m just grateful I didn’t lose any of you.”

“God, you’re a dumbass,” she managed to laugh and reached out to grab his arm. “I just got you back, you’re not getting away from me that easily, Skywalker.”

He just shook his head and leaned forward to peck her on the lips. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

“I’ll do my best, but you gotta promise not to knock me up with twins again.”

He laughed. “I’ll try. Maybe naturally will be just one,” he teased.

“Assuming I don’t superglue a condom on you.”

“Oh, funny, are we?” He asked, amused.

“Or still drugged out like crazy. They did cut me open and scoop out my organs to get the babies outta me. Why, do you like it?”

“You definitely need to sleep,” he snorted. “You’re sounding crazy, love.”

“Stay with me?”

“Always,” he whispered with a loving smile.

“Good. I love you.”

“I love you too. So much. You’re going to be the best Mom.”

“You’re gonna be an awesome daddy too,” she promised sleepily. “You already are.”

* * *

“I hate that we’re still seeing them like this,” Padmé sighed as she leaned against Anakin, one hand on the top of Luke’s incubator. “I wanna hug you so much, baby boy.”

“I know, but Dr. Che warned us it would take it’s time for us to properly take care of them,” Anakin whispered, kissing the top of her head. “He knows. He’s waiting for it too, but it would be that much sweeter when you do,” he joined her hand and squeezed her fingers. “He’s a fighter. Like you.”

“Like you too,” she pointed out as her hand traveled to Leia’s little crib. “And his sister.”

“All these tubes stuck in their little bodies…” Anakin trailed off. “I can’t wait until this nightmare is over and they’re home in their room.”

“I know, but it could have been so much worse.” Padmé rubbed at his back with the hand that wasn’t on top of a plastic lid. “We could have lost them.”

“Mr. Skywalker? Mayor Naberrie?” the nurse on duty cleared her throat. “I hate to be a bother, but we do need the room cleared to check all the babies.”

“So soon?” Anakin asked. “When can we return?”

“It shouldn’t take more than an hour. Maybe take the time to eat something, or check in with Dr. Che about getting the Mayor discharged?”

“Yes, let’s do that,” Anakin wrapped an arm around Padmé’s shoulders. “At least, we’ll get you home.”

“Ugh, I’m torn between wanting to sleep in a decent bed and wanting to stay with them,” Padmé sighed. “But yeah, food does at least sound good. We can do that. Maybe call some family to hang out with us?”

“I agree. But we’ll be here during visiting hours. We’ll always be with them,” he assured her. “You also need to rest properly. Soon, they’ll be home.”

“How’s the cyber crib been coming along?” she teased as they left the NICU and headed back to her room. “I have to assume you’re not sleeping much at home, and you started building one.”

“It’s doing well,” he chuckled. “I’ve managed to add sensors because of… Luke. If he does develop a respiratory illness, we’ll need to monitor him during the night. We need to be as careful as possible with him and with Leia as well.”

“You won’t be happy until we have a full-on smart house, will you?” Padmé laughed.

“We  _ will  _ live in a smart house within a few years, don’t you know me at all?” He drawled with a smirk. 

“If you think you’ll have the free time for that between work, raising the twins, and keeping me happy, think again, Skywalker.” Padmé took him by the collar and pulled him down for a kiss. “You should know by now, I’m  _ very _ high maintenance.” 

“Oh, I think I know how to make you happy and I’ll still have time to build a smart house for us,” he smirked, kissing her again. “Just don’t give me another scare like last week’s, alright? I never want to go through that again.”

“I will do everything I can not to have a placenta detach from my uterine wall before the baby is delivered again.”

He rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead. “You’ll be the death of me.”

“That’s what makes it so much fun.”

“Let’s meet with Dr. Che and see if we can at least take you out of here and home soon.”

“Oh, being selfish, are we? You want me all to yourself that badly?”

“I want my family home,” he said. “I know it will take some weeks for the twins to be released, but we can start by you being home. Preparing our nest for our babies.”

“You make us sound like birds.”

“I’m glad your sense of humor is intact, love.”

“I’m getting it in now before I lose it in a dirty diaper.”

A nurse approached them. “Dr. Che is ready to receive you, Madam Mayor, Mr. Skywalker.”

“We’ll be with her in a second, thank you,” Anakin said. “Ready to leave the hospital food behind?”

“Well, when you put it that way, yes. Right now.”


	12. Homecoming and Homemaking

“How’s my favorite couple this morning?” Vokara asked as she sat behind her desk. “I guess you’ve seen those darling babies you have?” She smiled at them.

“It took the nurses about twenty minutes to peel us away from the window so that we wouldn’t be late to meet you,” Padmé admitted sheepishly. “I just miss them so much every time we’re not near them.”

“I know that,” the doctor said, sympathetically. “But, the breastfeeding is going well, as is the formula when you’re not here. I can’t help but marvel at Luke and Leia’s progress over the past three weeks. They have grown so much.”

“We can tell,” Anakin said. “They’re getting bigger, they’re more active and they know us. They cling to us and it breaks our hearts to leave them here, day after day.”

“Well, I think at this point, we’re about a week from them both being ready for discharge. You already know Leia’s been out of her incubator since she hit four pounds, and her growth has been holding steady. We’re going to try easing Luke off his ventilator starting today, with your permission, to make sure his lungs are functioning properly and can work on their own.”

“Those are fantastic news,” Anakin beamed. “We get to take them home in a week, right? And what about Luke, is he still susceptible to develop respiratory illnesses in the future?”

“We’ll need to keep doing checkups to make sure he doesn’t develop pneumothorax or chronic lung disease, but I think he’s looking to make a full recovery with no lasting side effects at this point.”

“Those might be the best news we’ve had in a while,” he smiled at Padmé and kissed her knuckles. 

“It’s definitely a relief,” Padmé agreed. “Is there anything else we should know, anything we need to prepare for them at home? Aside from Anakin’s robo-crib?”

“Stop calling it that, it’s a self-sufficient smart crib so we don’t have to worry about our babies suffocating during the night,” he huffed playfully.

“Yes, but you get so cute when you’re indignant.”

Dr. Che cleared her throat. “I do recommend keeping a close eye on them, even with the…crib. We’ll get them on a regular schedule of checkups, make sure they’re hitting the milestones appropriately, and go from there. Does that sound doable?”

“It does, we just want to take them home,” Anakin said. “It’s been a tough month.”

“I know it has, but you’re in the home stretch now. From here, it’s hopefully just going to be normal parenting.”

“We have every book on the planet read and reread and with notes,” he chuckled.

“Uh-huh.” Dr. Che turned towards Padmé. “And is the recovery from your c-section going well? Any lingering issues?”

“A little pain, but nothing super serious. Between Anakin at home and my aides at work, I basically always have an informal nurse with me.”

“You’re already back to work?”

“It’s a relatively light load, all things considered.”

“I told her it was too early, but…” Anakin shrugged as an explanation.

“The city needs its mayor, and I need something to help me stay occupied when we’re not with the kids.”

“I understand, but you know my opinion on the matter,” he replied. “You should be resting but… it’s your decision.”

“I’ll rest when we bring the kids home, this is me basically delaying my parental leave—”

Dr. Che coughed, reminding them they weren’t alone. “Any other...things I should know about?” she asked pointedly.

Anakin frowned. “I don’t… think so?”

“I’m talking about your intimate life,” Dr. Che said. “Has something happened or do you have questions?” 

“No, we’re abiding by the rules we were given,” Padmé said and Anakin nodded in agreement. “It’s just this one point of disagreement about my work habits.”

“What do you think, Dr. Che? Do you think she should be back to work so soon? Or that she should rest for  _ when  _ the twins  _ are  _ home and need one hundred and ten percent of our attention?”

“I think that every parent has different needs, and if this is what Padmé thinks she needs, you need to respect that. At the same time, Padmé, if you’re using this as some kind of a coping mechanism, we can take the time to make sure you’re not dealing with postpartum depression. Given the situation, I’d be surprised if you weren’t.”

“I can respect that. And not agree with it at the same time.” Anakin nodded. “Padmé? Do you think we should… see someone about what happened? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“Look, I just can’t be at home alone right now, okay? I need something to keep my mind off the fact that right now, I’m a mom who can’t be with her kids, and I need a productive outlet, and work is  _ right there. _ ”

“It’s understandable, but like Anakin said, if you need to speak or see someone in a professional sense, you just need to ask. It’s not a weakness. Your babies will be home in a week and you need to be prepared for that,” Dr. Che said with a soft smile. “What Anakin doesn’t want and I don’t want is for you to be exhausted when they arrive, so asking for help is good and I’m here if you need to.”

Padmé folded her arms sullenly and looked away, her lips pursed in a thin line.

“If that’s everything, we might see the twins one last time before we leave,” Anakin said. “Padmé?”

“I’m coming,” she sighed, pushing herself out of the chair.

“Thank you, Dr. Che.”

“I’ll see you at our next appointment. Take care, you two,” she smiled briefly.

“Right,” Padmé slunk through the door without waiting for Anakin to push it open.

“Hey, hey, come here,” Anakin caught her by the elbow as she tried to walk ahead of him. “Don’t bottle up those feelings. What’s wrong?”

“There’s nothing to say that we haven’t already said, Ani,” sighed Padmé. “I feel like you’re unhappy with me for trying to be productive.”

“Unhappy? No, no, you got it all wrong. I’m not unhappy, I am worried. I don’t want you to push yourself too hard. We had a difficult month and I don’t want you to hide behind work. I want you to be rested and at peace when the twins come home because they are going to need us so much and I just want you to be in a good place,” he explained.

“I’m not pushing myself!” she protested. “Why can’t you believe that?”

“It’s a bit difficult for me to understand that, after the weeks we’ve been having. Love, I’m exhausted and I’m not ashamed to admit that. Between work, our appointments… we’re living in the hospital, basically. We go home to change and shower, then we work, and then we are here and hospitals are depressing as it is plus the emotional toll it takes on watching our babies like that… I just… don’t believe you’re not pushing yourself.”

“Then maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine. You want to be defensive. It’s your choice. Just know that you’re not alone. I’m heading to the NICU,” he shook his head and took the hallway that would lead them to where their heart had stayed a month back, with their children. She trailed a few paces behind him, not saying a word as they reached the ward.

“Welcome back, Madam Mayor, Mr. Skywalker,” the nurse chirped happily. “Did everything go well with Dr. Che?”

“Yes, she told us they’ll be home in a week’s time, so it was a good appointment,” Anakin replied.

“That’s great! Although we’ll be sad to see the twins go, they’ve been two of our best little patients ever.”

“I believe it, but their room has been ready for them for ages and we’re dying for them to see all their toys and all their little clothes,” he chuckled.

“Well, they’re very lucky to have such devoted parents.”

“They’re our little miracles. We’re just going to be with them for a little longer before we have to go back home.”

“One more week,” Padmé sighed, pressing a hand against the glass as she stared at the twins. “Just one more.”

“One more,” her boyfriend said and kissed the top of her head. “I love you. Even when you’re being impossible.”

“Your face is impossible,” she muttered halfheartedly.

“Impossibly gorgeous,” he chuckled.

“Well, aren’t we arrogant.”

“You love me, anyway.”

“I know.”

* * *

“Do we have everything?”

“For the hundredth time, yes,” he laughed. “We do.”

“I’m just making sure.” Padmé rummaged through the diaper bag. “We can still drive back to the hospital and make sure. We might have left a binky behind.”

“We have ten different binkies available,” he rolled his eyes. “We’re fine. We’re good. We’re  _ home. _ ”

“Okay, okay, fine. Which of the kids do you want to take for the elevator ride?”

“I’ll take Luke,” Anakin said. “You’re good with Leia?”

“Of course.” Padmé took a moment to adjust the pink beanie on their daughter’s head. “There we go. Cute as a button.”

“Is she awake? Luke is sleeping soundly.”

“She is for now, but we should move quickly. See if we can get them into the robo-crib without waking him up.”

“Stop  _ calling  _ it that,” Anakin said, exasperated. Luke’s little snores were heard in the elevator as he kissed his son’s forehead. “I can’t believe they’re finally home.”

“Babe, as long as it keeps annoying you, I will call it a robo-crib. It’s in the rules.”

“Your mother is impossible, I don’t know why I love her,” he whispered to Leia, who eyed her parents with her chocolate brown eyes, full of curiosity and wonder.

“And your daddy is a silly, silly man who’s lucky that  _ I _ love him,” Padmé retorted with a smirk.

“Oh please, everybody loves me, I’m adorable,” he said, arrogantly. 

“Keep telling yourself that, sweetie,” she chuckled as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. “Welcome home, kids.”

“You’re finally home and tomorrow, your aunties and uncles, grandmas, and grandpas will come to spoil you endlessly with love,” Anakin gushed. “God, we needed you two home so much.”

Leia’s lip began to wobble and her eyes squeezed shut. “Fuck,” Padmé mouthed. “We’ve gotta move fast, babe.”

“Go on, the nursery is ready if you want to breastfeed her,” he said. “I’ll try to wake up Luke so he can eat too and then we’ll put them down for a well-deserved nap.”

“Sounds good.” Padmé set down the carrier and unbuckled Leia, lifting her out and carrying her to the nursery. “Hey, baby girl, easy now. Just give Mommy a minute.” She settled into the rocking chair, pulling down her blouse to allow the baby access to her breast. Leia latched on easily, her little fist smacking against Padmé’s chest. “Wow, you’re already a little diva now that you’re home, aren’t you?”

“Ah, definitely my daughter,” Anakin said as he entered the nursery with a now awake Luke in his arms. He rocked his son and let him grab one of his fingers as he took a seat in an armchair near the window.

“Don’t look so smug about it,” she huffed. “Your flair for the dramatic has its drawbacks.”

“Oh, please,” he chuckled as he tickled Luke under his chin. The baby boy was an absolute angel. His blue eyes looked up at his father and he kicked his little legs. He was still small, but Dr. Che has assured them he was in perfect health and weight. “You are perfect,” he whispered.

Luke stirred and hiccuped in his father’s arms, and Padmé sighed. “Is there any cuter sound in the universe than that?” she asked with a smile as she adjusted her hold on Leia slightly. “I don’t think there is.”

“No, there isn’t,” he agreed as he kissed his son’s cheeks.

“She’s slowing down, I think she’ll be done soon. Prepare to switch?”

“Yes, I’ll burp her,” he nodded

“Thank you,” she exhaled just as Leia detached, and moved one arm to the side, preparing for Luke. “Ready to receive.”

Anakin chuckled as he passed Luke to his mother’s arms and then took Leia to himself, kissing her cheeks as he placed her at his shoulders and started patting her back. Padmé settled Luke against her opposite breast and sank back a little further into the rocking chair. It took him slightly longer to get a hold on her than it had taken Leia, but he eventually managed it.

“That’s my boy,” Padmé nodded. “You’re a tough little fighter, aren’t you, Luke?”

“Takes after his mother,” Anakin said as Leia burped and then mewled. “Good girl, Leia.”

“Good girl? Have you  _ met _ your daughter?” Padmé teased.

“I know she’ll be a terror, but she’s my Princess, she can do no wrong,” he pouted as he rocked her and watched her mischievous expression.

“If you build her an actual castle, I may have to leave you,” she warned him dryly. “There are a few lines that shouldn’t be crossed.”

“I can give her a lot of awesome things without building a castle,” he chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll go that far.”

“He says that now, but you should see the kitty castle he built for Artoo,” Padmé whispered to Luke, just as the little cat sauntered into the nursery, eyeing the babies suspiciously. “Yes, Artoo, these two are in charge now, you’ll just have to deal with it.”

The cat sat down and curled the tail around his paws, just observing and meowed. “We still love you,” Anakin chuckled.

“We were planning on getting you two a puppy, but that might have to wait now, we can hardly train a dog  _ and _ take care of you properly.”

“Yes, we did speak about getting a Golden, but didn’t your father said that the breeder would only have new babies in three months?” Anakin asked. “I think it was that, but we definitely need one.”

“Only if they’re already completely house trained.”

“We can hire a trainer. See? Solution for everything!”

“Right, I forgot Daddy basically prints his own money.” Padmé laughed as she rubbed the nest of golden curls on the top of their son’s head.

"I can't complain," he smirks as Leia's eyelids start to drop. He smiled, completely in love. "From a guy with no plan at all to making thirty thousand per hour, I think I did pretty well for myself."

“Yeah, let’s see how impressive that is when she poops herself and it goes all the way up her back.”

He rolls his eyes. "You shouldn't believe every image you see on the internet, you know? There's a little thing called Photoshop, I don't know if you know it?" He snorted. 

“It happened to me with  _ both _ Ryoo and Pooja, you can’t Photoshop that,” she countered as she repositioned Luke on her shoulder for burping.

"Your nieces are hardcore," he laughed gently before noticing his daughter was already snoring. "There we go, little angel," he smiled before setting her down on the crib. 

“So am I a big angel now?” Padmé asked lightly, “if she’s the little angel?”

“Jealous she’s taking a little bit of your nickname,  _ Angel _ ?” He teased as he brushed the thin, curly hair on Leia’s head.

“I guess I’m still getting used to there being another woman in your life.” She gave Luke a firm pat on the back as he burped. “That’s Mama’s good boy.”

“I have room for you both,” he chuckled. “But the same goes for you though… now there’s another man that I have to share you with,” he came over and kissed Luke’s little head.

“He’s gonna win every time,” she laughed softly, passing Luke into Anakin’s arms so she could fix her shirt and then stand up to take the baby back. “Remind me, when are we scheduled for the home invasion of family members who want to meet them?”

“Tomorrow morning,” he said with a small grimace. “I managed to convince them to let us get settled first but they are anxious to welcome them home too. You want to go and take a bath? I’ll put Luke down for a nap and start on lunch for us.”

“Bath does sound good,” she admitted with a sigh. “Okay. Twenty minutes?”

“I think you can take a bit more time for yourself,” he smiled. “Don’t worry.”

“Come find me if you get lonely?” she asked teasingly.

“I don’t think we’ll ever get to be  _ lonely  _ again,” he snickered. “Lunch will be ready when you’re done. Now give me my son, we have sheep to count.”

“ _ Our _ son,” she retorted as she surrendered the little boy. “He’s no longer wreaking havoc on my organs with his sister, that means we always share him.”

“Mommy gets possessive sometimes,” he brushed his lips over Luke’s forehead. “Right, baby boy?” He chuckles as Luke cooed and fisted his hand around his dad’s shirt.

“You were the one who started it,” Padmé huffed as she started for the bathroom. “See you after my bath.”

* * *

Anakin set the tablet on the coffee table with the video feed of the twins' nursery. They were both asleep, being perfect angels. The crib was doing its job, monitoring their sleep and vitals and everything was alright with them, so he could relax and think about what he wanted to do next.

With their past month being as complicated as he was, he didn’t get the chance to formulate a plan and honestly, he was still thinking how he would do it. Padmé emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in her robe and a towel around her hair, looking flushed from the heat. “Everything okay? You’re making the face.”

“The face?” He questioned.

“The ‘I have an idea and I’m working it out in my head’ face,” she explained, puckering her entire face inward. “You look like this.”

“Oh my God, I look that horrible?” 

“No, no, it’s cute! I’m just curious why you’re making it!”

“A lot on my mind,” he offered with a small smile. “I have lunch ready, are you hungry?”

“Ravenous. What’s on the menu?” she grabbed the nearest seat as she inhaled. “Not that I’m picky, whatever it is smells delicious.”

“It’s caponata pasta, Miss Vegetarian,” he kissed her cheek as he stood and served two plates, before he sat back down next to her, handing her one. “It’s the easiest thing I remembered.”

“You’re very accommodating,” she laughed as she grabbed her fork and dug in. “And still very good in the kitchen.”

“Somebody has to keep you well-fed,” he teased as he started to eat as well, thinking of how he could make her notice his little gesture.

“I’ll pay you back,” she promised. “Maybe not right away, but at some point, you’ll come home, and I’ll have a feast spread out for you when you least expect it.”

“Can I expect meat or cricket food?” He raised one eyebrow.

“That’s part of the surprise.”

Anakin laughed. “You know that I love you, right?”

“Of course I know. And I love you too. We’d be in a lot of trouble if that weren’t true, seeing as we have twins.”

“True,” he chuckled. “I’m just… so relieved they are home. We’re all home and we can start being an actual family.”

“I know the feeling, believe me.” She got up from her seat to retrieve a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with orange juice from the fridge. “It’ll be nice to get a sense of things being normal.”

“What is normal, though? Our lives were turned upside down from the moment of their conception, do we even know what our normal is like now?” He mused.

“Well, we’ll figure it out as we go. We’re smart like that.”

Maybe… maybe he didn’t have to do the traditional way. “Hmm, love? I think Leia’s stirring, can you go and check? I have a call coming through,” he asked, discreetly turning off the tablet and picking up his phone. “Maybe I didn’t turn the mobile with the light,” he added.

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded, setting down her glass and heading to the nursery. “Be right back.”

“Thank you,” he said as he watched her disappear through the hallway. He set his phone down and then leaned against the couch. All he had to do was wait and hope that it would be noticeable. He  _ did  _ pick something decent. A moment later, there was a shriek, followed by the twins’ wailing.

“Dammit!” Padmé cried.

Anakin rushed to the nursery and easily placated the twins, bending down on the crib and rubbing their stomachs. “Ssh, it’s okay, easy now, go back to sleep,” he whispered as their cries turned to small sobs. “Ssh,” he kept saying, trying to relax them. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to his girlfriend. “You  _ shrieked _ ?” Anakin raised one eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“You  _ proposed?” _ she mimicked his tone as she held up the ring he’d put on the mobile.

“I haven’t technically made the question,” he pulled back, letting the twins find their peace again. “I wasn’t expecting you to  _ scream _ ,” Anakin chuckled.

“I wasn’t expecting there to be a ring on the mobile!”

Shaking his head, he took the ring from her fingers and in front of their children’s crib, while they slept, he went down on one knee. “Padmé Naberrie,” he started in a whisper, the tunes of a baby’s lullaby coming from the mobile, filling the nursery, “will you give me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“You know I will,” she nodded, pressing her hands to her mouth as she smiled through forming tears. “Nothing would make me happier.”

“Don’t scream again,” he chuckled as he placed the ring on the rightful finger and stood up. “They’ll be impossible if you wake them once more,” he leaned down and pulled her for a passionate kiss.

“Oh, my God, do not tease me right n—” the kiss cut her off, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, deepening the embrace.

“I love you,” he beamed, joining their foreheads.

“I love you too.”

“Since we can’t do much, how about we take a nap of our own?” He nuzzled her cheek. “I mean, we need all the sleep we can get,” he laughed quietly.

“Nap sounds great, but I don’t want to leave them,” she admitted. “Everything in here feels so perfect right now.”

“Couch?” He nodded towards the comfortable looking, white couch on the corner of the room, filled with plush toys that were gifts from everyone they knew.

“Couch,” she agreed.

Anakin smiled and raised her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles near the ring. “Our mothers are going to freak out tomorrow.”

“Maybe we don’t let them know about the engagement  _ right _ away,” Padmé mumbled as they settled into the couch. “Designate the first part of the day to  _ just _ the twins, then we tell them we’re getting married.”

“Agreed,” he kissed her forehead. “Happy to become Mrs. Skywalker?”

“Mmm,” she sighed, her head already dipping against his chest as she tried to suppress a yawn. “We’ll talk names later.”

He chuckled. “I think we can do it next year. Maybe around the time the twins turn one.”

“Maybe wait a little longer?” she suggested. “So they can walk on their own? Cute little flower girl and ringbearer?”

“That’s a long engagement.”

“We’re both busy people with big careers, and planning a wedding takes time in the best of circumstances. I’d rather do it right than do it fast,” she pointed out.

“And we’re in no rush.”

“Right. It’ll be  _ fine. _ Better than fine. Fantastic. Wedding of the century…” her head bobbed again and she let out a long yawn as she cuddled against his chest.


	13. The End of a Long Walk

“Okay, this is  _ not _ fine!” Padmé shouted as she marched into the twins’ room holding an open bin of oversized LEGO pieces. “Haven’t I told you guys you need to pick these up when you’re done playing with them? I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.” The two four-year-olds stared up at her, blinking innocently and Padmé groaned. “ _ Anakin! _ ”

“ _ What? _ ” He shouted from his office. “ _ I’m busy! Kids, listen to your Mom.” _

Sighing, Padmé turned back to the twins, determined not to take her anger out on her fiancé. “I told you, if they don’t get put away, they go away. Get the rest of the LEGO, they’re heading for time out.”

“ _ No! _ ” Luke wailed.

“Momma, is ours!” Leia’s bottom lip trembled and clutched some colorful pieces to her chest.

“ _ Was _ yours,” Padmé corrected, prying the sticky pieces of plastic out of her daughter’s hands. Leia shrieked in protest. “You forgot to clean up, and now Mommy has owie feet from where she stepped in the LEGO. There are rules to stop that from happening. You broke the rules.”

“Bad rules,” Luke scoffed. “They suck.”

“When you’re a grownup, you can make whatever rules you want, Luke. But right now, it’s  _ my _ rules. And Daddy’s. But mostly mine.”

“I do whatever I want,” Leia said, stubbornly and grabbed the remaining pieces, stuffing them in a unicorn-shaped backpack. “They’re mine!” Luke followed her lead and hid some inside of his shirt. Padmé sighed and walked out of the room, across the hall to Anakin’s office.

“Will you  _ please _ take a break to come help me confiscate the LEGO?” she asked. “They’re driving me nuts.”

“What’s wrong with the LEGO?” He frowned, looking up.

“They left them all over the living room, and I stepped in them. So now I’m confiscating them.”

“Love, I get it, LEGOs are a bitch to step on but it’s their toy of the moment and if you take them away, they’ll just rain hell on us. Can’t you just scold them?” He sighed.

“They need to learn that actions have consequences! Would you prefer I take away dessert? Or TV?”

“Dessert. It’s less dramatic.”

“Oh, so now I’m dramatic. Great. I’ll be sure to include that in the vows if we ever get around to the wedding.”

“Not you, but for them.  _ They’ll  _ be less dramatic, don’t be like that,” he huffed. “Yeah, wedding, honestly, maybe we’ll be that couple who’s engaged forever, I gave up trying to book a date.”

“Maybe we  _ should _ have let our moms plan it,” she muttered under her breath as she headed back to the twins’ room and set down the bin. “Change of plans. You can keep the LEGO, but you’ll be giving up dessert for three days.”

They both looked at her, horrified. Luke dropped the LEGOs from his shirt, bottom lip trembling, and blue eyes bright with unshed tears. Leia threw her backpack on the floor and fled, crying, no doubt to her dad’s side. Padmé picked Luke up, holding him at eye level. “Luke, look at me.”

“No,” he sobbed and hid his face in his sleeve.

“Luke.”

“Nooo!”

“Sweetie, come on, you know rules are a thing, daycare has them too.”

“Fine,” he said through an angry pout. “Put me down, I want to play.”

Padmé obliged, watching him as she bit her lip. He turned to find his pieces and sat down, miserably putting them together, obviously, trying out for a tower. “Do you want help?” she asked. 

“Leia,” he pouted as he stared at his sister’s more colorful pieces, in all sorts of lilacs, yellows, and hot pink.

“Leia went to find Daddy, I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”

He sighed. “Okay, I guess.” Padmé sat down next to him, taking out a few blocks and clicking them together.

“You know I love you guys, right, sweetie?” Luke nodded and stacked a few of his pieces, lips still turned into a pout. “Luke. Luke, come on.”

“I _kn_ _ oooo _ _w_ ,” he whined. “I wanna play now. Since I don’t get dessert, at least I want to play,” he grumbled as he figured out how to balance his tower.

“Do you want me to play with you?”

“Only if you don’t ruin my tower,” he carefully placed another LEGO piece on top of it.

“Tell me what to do, then. How do you want the tower to look?”

“Tall,” he shrugged.

“You don’t have any more details?”

He thought for a moment, before shrugging. “Large too.”

“Color options?”

“All of them,” he looked at her weirdly. “All the pieces.”

“Okay.” She took a few pieces, anticipating his criticism as she held them out to him. “Like these ones?”

“Mommy, just put the pieces on the tower,” he said with a huff. “It’s not politics,” he added, mimicking what he heard his Dad say more than once.

“You are way too young to know what that means,” she laughed.

“Daddy says it’s complicated and this is not complicated, so…” he shrugged in response.

“You’re a lot more complicated than you realize, kiddo. I never quite know what you and your sister are going to do.”

He was quiet for a minute. “Not get dessert.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You always tell us what to do,” he frowned.

“That's what parents do, sweetie. But just because I have rules, that doesn’t mean I control everything you do.”

“Yes, you do, Mommy.”

“If that were true, the LEGO thing wouldn’t be an issue.” He shrugged in response. “Also, you’re  _ four.  _ Someone has to be the boss of you.”

“I’m hungry,” he declared with a sigh.

“Do you want a snack? Animal crackers, maybe?”

“And applesauce.”

“I think we can do that. Do you want to go get Daddy and Leia?”

Luke nodded. “Okay…”

“Great, up we go.” Padmé grabbed his hands and helped pull him to his feet. “I’ll see you in the kitchen.”

“I have to finish this,” he said stubbornly.

“Honey, you can’t eat in your bedroom. The tower will be here when you get back.”

"Get Leia first, right, Mama?" Luke asked innocently, taking his mother's hand. 

“That’s right, get Leia first,” Padmé confirmed. “And Daddy. Come on.” She started pulling him out of the bedroom and towards the office.

Leia was sitting in Anakin’s lap, head leaning on his shoulder with an angry pout firmly on her face. Anakin kept working, kissing her forehead here and there.

“Snack time!” Luke shouted so loudly that his sister jumped, knocking her head against her father’s chin.

“Ow! Luke!” she wailed.

Anakin mouthed a silent ‘fuck’ as he groaned and rubbed his chin. “You have a hard head, baby girl,” he set her on the floor.

“It’s snack time,” Luke said again, at a more reasonable volume. “Animal crackers and applesauce.”

“Well, I’m not hungry,” Leia scoffed and leaned against her father’s desk.

“No, Leia, snack time, go,” Anakin sighed, chin still throbbing. “You were telling me you were hungry, so go on.”

“No.”

“Luke, apologize to your sister,” Padmé chided. “And Leia, please come have a snack. You’re a growing girl, you need healthy snacks.”

“I’m sorry,” he rolled his eyes.

“I need dessert, I don’t care about healthy snacks,” she shrugged.

“Do you need dessert more than you need your LEGO?”

“I want both,” she turned and wedged herself between her dad’s arms and sat on his lap again, he sighed and gave up on work. “Daddy? I want both. Can I have both?”

“Leia, I already told you to listen to your mom. You didn’t pick up the LEGO, so you don’t have dessert. It’s fair,” he said.

“Take a break and join us?” Padmé asked Anakin with a soft smile.

“Might as well,” he nodded and locked his computer. “Before I’m bulldozed again.”

“Sorry, Daddy,” Leia pouted as she slid off his lap and started running for the kitchen, Luke quick to follow after her. 

“Kids, huh,” Padmé exhaled in exhaustion.

“No wonder we can’t get married,” he snorted.

“Do you think it’s worth the rage of our moms to just meet up at City Hall on a lunchbreak and doing it there?”

“They will make our lives hell for the rest of theirs, and they still have some good years ahead of them. It’s not worth it,” he stood and leaned against his desk. “It’s just something we have to start planning. Definitively.”

“You think fifth time’s the charm?” she joked.

“Let’s hope so,” he kissed the corner of her lips.

“MOMMY!”

“DADDY!”

“Oh,” Padmé groaned, pulling away from her fiancé reluctantly. “Duty calls.”

* * *

“Anakin, will you come in here?” Obi-Wan called from his office. “I need to speak with you in private.”

“Whatever you think that I did, I didn’t do it,” he called out with a deep frown. “I hope,” he added silently to himself.

“I know you didn’t. But I still need you in here,” Obi-Wan said again. “Please.”

Anakin sighed and walked inside his best friend’s office, closing the door behind him. “What is it? Why so serious?”

“Now.” Obi-Wan said with a small smile. The door locked behind Anakin, and Rex and Kitster grabbed him by the arms while Ahsoka stepped forward holding a garment bag.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked, scandalized.

“Put this on,” she said, shoving the bag at him. “And then come with us.”

“I am not going to be a willing party in my own kidnapping,” he scoffed and threw the bag at Rex. “I gave you all a raise last year. Why the violence?”

“This isn’t a kidnapping,” Kitster promised. “Come on, Obi-Wan’s on board, isn’t that enough to make this legit? You know he’d never risk breaking the law.”

He eyed Obi-Wan suspiciously. “They got to Korkie, didn’t they? That’s why you’re so nice.”

“Korkie is with Satine, he’s perfectly safe, now will you please just put on the damn suit?” Obi-Wan groaned.

“This is a suit?” Anakin asked as he zipped the bag open and saw the black suit hanging there. “Black on black? I can pull this off. Where are we going?”

“That’s on a need to know basis, now get dressed,” Ahsoka huffed. “Come  _ on. _ ”

“Alright, I’m going,” he huffed and took the bag towards Obi-Wan’s private bathroom. What in the world were those three up to? He could hear Ahsoka standing outside the bathroom door, playing Jeopardy music on her phone as he changed.

“Really?” Kitster scolded. “You’re so immature.”

“He can’t listen to us speak,” she scoffed. “Obi-Wan, have you coordinated with the mothers, already? Do they have her and the Skybabies?”

“Sabé is driving them as we speak.”

“Good, good. Did Satine get back to you on the arrangements? Everything’s set? Everyone’s showing up?”

“We’re ready to go on all fronts, just as soon as he’s dressed and in the car.”

“Fucking finally,” Kitster muttered.

“What are you three whispering about?” Anakin left the bathroom, adjusting his cuffs. His black on black assemble made his blue eyes look even bluer and his curls carefully pushed back made him look incredibly handsome.

“You’ll see when we get there, come on!” Ahsoka grabbed him by the arm and charged the door, unlocking it in a hurry.

“Ahsoka, don’t make him run, he’ll sweat through the suit!” Obi-Wan scolded.

“You guys are scaring me. Can I call my fiancée and tell her I love her before you take me to my definitive doom?”

“She doesn’t have her phone, so it’d just go to voicemail,” Rex said dryly.

“Why wouldn’t she have her phone? That thing almost literally sleeps with us!” Anakin whirled around to his friend, shocked.

“Sabé took it,” explained Kitster.

Anakin looked down at how he was dressed and frowned. “You guys didn’t… did you?”

“Didn’t what?” Ahsoka asked innocently as they reached the elevator. “What do you think we’re doing, Skyguy?”

“You better have something other than City Hall up your sleeve, Snips,” he started to grin up at her.

“I don’t know  _ what _ you’re talking about,” Obi-Wan scoffed, herding them into the elevator. “Keep moving, we’re on a schedule.”

Anakin relaxed and kept a grin on his face. Rex groaned.

“Figured it out, huh?”

“Rex!” Obi-Wan huffed.

“I’ll make sure to make my best surprise face,” Anakin laughed. “We definitely needed the push and besides, I’ve been saying it for years that I wanted a black on black look on my wedding.”

“Just wait til you see Padmé. And the venue.”

“Where is it?” He asked eagerly. Over the past five years, they must have visited dozens of places, booked a few, and always canceled. “How many people did you invite?  _ How  _ did you keep this under wraps without it being leaked? Honestly, don’t tell me, I just love you for it.”

“We’re going to Pier Sixty,” Kitster answered. “As for the rest… your moms did all of it, man. We didn’t say anything because they are  _ terrifying. _ ”

“Legitimately,” Ahsoka confirmed.

“Padmé loves that place. It was booked for a solid two years when we went there last year,” he widened his eyes. “Trust the moms to have it handled. They have been planning for this wedding way longer than we have.”

“Why do you think you’re getting married on a random Wednesday afternoon?” Obi-Wan asked dryly as they reached the parking garage. “They pounced on the first opening that would work with your schedules.”

“Brilliant, those women, brilliant,” he shook his head, amazed. “I wonder what Padmé is thinking right now,” he chuckled.

“Probably fussing over her hair or something,” Rex deadpanned as he reached the car. “I assume you still want to drive?”

“It’s my wedding day,” he beamed. “I don’t want to wrinkle my suit. You drive while I daydream about this.”

“Anakin’s refusing to drive? It’s the end times,” Ahsoka teased.

“Don’t worry, I  _ will  _ be driving away for our honeymoon,” he then stopped. “You did plan a honeymoon, right? The logistics with the twins? Our vacation? Meetings?” He really didn’t want to sweat on his suit.

“You’ll have to ask your mothers about that. When we say they did everything, we  _ mean _ everything."

He relaxed. “Oh. Ok. Good, good.”

“Here.” Kitster handed him a brownie. “You need this.”

“What on Earth is that?”

“Dude, why do you think I’m giving you a brownie, it’s gonna calm you down so you don’t freak out anymore.”

“I’m not eating your pot brownie, Kit.”

“Killjoy.”

“The last thing I want to be around my kids, and especially during my wedding, is high, you moron,” Anakin rolled his eyes and sat in the backseat of the car.

“It’s not  _ that _ much pot, just a little CBD oil. For stress.”

“Kitster, give it up, he’s not going to eat it,” Obi-Wan scolded. “Let’s  _ go.” _

* * *

“Will someone  _ please _ explain what is going on?” Padmé demanded as she banged again on the partition separating her from the driver. “I’m  _ so _ confused right now!”

“You mean you haven’t already figured it out?” Sabé teased.

Dormé eyed the white garment bag laying on the seat beside her. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious, really,” her phone vibrated and she checked her messages, to cackle right after. She showed it to Sabé.

“Well, of course he figured it out, you don’t make billions being dumb,” Sabé snickered.

“Guys,  _ come on _ , you’re freaking me out. And can I have my phone back?”

“No. You won’t get it back until…” Dormé looked at Sabé and saw her friend mouth something “two weeks from now.”

“ _ WHAT?!?”  _ Padmé shrieked, trying yet again to grab at the locked door of the car. “Let me out. Let me out right now.”

“Padmé, trust us, you’ll love what’s coming,” Sabé sighed, tugging her friend to a sitting position. “You’ll be fine without your phone for a while.”

“You won’t even notice. You’ll be… occupied,” Dormé cleared her throat, smirking.

“Oh, my god, how can you have known me this long and think that I could go two weeks without my phone?” Padmé trailed off as she looked out the window. “Why are we at Pier Sixty?”

“You will need to put this on and yes, you can go two weeks without looking at a screen. Have you seen your fiancé’s abs? Because we did, his GQ profile was very thoughtful of all the women out there,” Dormé dangled the white garment bag in front of her friend’s eyes.

“No.” Padmé shook her head. “No way, this can’t be possible.”

“That you can pay attention to your baby daddy and future husband? Or that we spent the last six months running around like crazy to plan you a perfect wedding day?” Sabé asked.

“You could not have pulled this off without me knowing for _six_ _months_!” Even as Padmé said it, she unzipped the garment bag, staring at the simple white dress in rapture. “Oh, it’s perfect.”

“Your moms are terrifying,” Dormé shuddered.

“We thought a simple dress would do the trick, to match Anakin’s suit,” Sabé winked. “The kids are adorable in their little outfits. They are already inside.”

“Did the kids know?” 

“They were told when Shmi picked them up from daycare, now come on, we’ve got to get you looking gorgeous.”

“Give me a second, will you? I’m taking in a lot of information right now!” Padmé protested.

“What is there to take in, Padmé? You are finally marrying the love of your life! In one of your favorite places in Manhattan. We need to start this day! Come  _ on _ .”

“Well, I thought today was going to be a normal workday!” Padmé protested as she followed her friends into the building. Sola waved from one of the hallways as Darred attempted to wrangle all four kids.

“Hi, Mommy!” Luke yelled, and Padmé nearly cried from how adorable he looked in his little black suit.

"You're here! Finally!" Sola gave her a bone-crushing hug. "Why do you look upset!?" She pulled away and frowned over her sister's face. 

"Are you mad we did this for you?" Rabé asked quietly. 

“I’m crying because I’m happy, dummies,” Padmé laughed through her tears. “This is amazing!”

"Do you like my suit, Mommy?" Luke beamed proudly. 

"And my dress?" Leia asked eagerly, twirling around in a gorgeous lace dress with small and delicate pink accents. Her hair was braided in two buns, decorated with small, pink flowers. 

“You both look perfect.”

“Come on, we’ve got to get you out of here before Anakin arrives!” Dormé urged, pushing them down the corridor into a small dressing room with plush furniture, vanity table, and full-length mirror. 

Eirtaé was already setting up makeup on the vanity. “Alright, let’s get your hair started,” the blonde fussed. “Sensible Mayor Bun is  _ not _ wedding appropriate!”

“Daddy likes when mommy wears her hair down,” Luke quipped, rocking on the balls of her feet.

“With  _ perfect _ waves,” Leia added.

“Really, you two,” Padmé huffed as she pulled the clips out of her hair. “Do you know what  _ precocious _ means?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

“What were you expecting?” Sabé snorted as she started to rub Padmé’s scalp in order to release her natural curls. Rabé was already putting the curling iron at Sabé’s reach.

“Shouldn’t I put on the dress before you do my hair and makeup? And can someone get the twins out of here before they see me naked?”

The twins giggled innocently. “We can do your hair and makeup before you get dressed. That’s how it is so we don’t get anything on your dress,” Dormé rolled her eyes.

There was a knock on the door and Ahsoka poked her head inside. “Groom is here and I’m in charge of taking these two little devils to their daddy,” she tickled both of the twins' stomachs and they squealed happily. “How's the future Mrs. Skywalker doing?” She raised one eyebrow.

“No one’s changing names!” Padmé huffed as Eirtaé moved in to start her makeup.  _ That _ debate had been one of the first things to derail their own attempts at planning the wedding, and Padmé had fought hard to win that fight. At this point, _Mrs. Skywalker_ was just their way of teasing her, and it was infuriating how well it worked.

“Ashoka, hush. It killed their first  _ scheduled  _ wedding, we don’t need that drama now,” Sabé hissed. “Take the twins, go on, before their innocent eyes are scarred!”

“But I want to stay,” Leia pouted.

“Daddy has candy,” Ahsoka pointed out.

“What are we still doing here?” The small child pushed past her aunt and ran off. Luke went after her, and Ahsoka did a dramatic bow before she left as well, closing the door behind her.

“Do not start pouting about the past now,” Eirtae warned, moving in with the eyeliner. “Okay? You love him, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“You want to be tied to him forever, right?”

“Do you have to put it like that?”

“Maybe try… do you want to pop out some more of those Skybabies?” Sabé snickered, and Padmé’s hand jerked to her stomach in shock.

“Seriously?!?” Dormé asked as she finished pulling the dress out of the garment bag. “Did he knock you up again?”

“Not even with twins do they let their sex life get affected,” Eirtaé rolled her eyes. “But are you? Really?”

“Does he know?” Sabé asked, carefully curling her hair to then mess the curls into perfect, luscious waves. 

“I haven’t even taken a test yet, I’m just a few days late, it could be stress.”

Eirtaé and Sabé looked at Dormé. “What?” She asked. “Oh, no! No, it will take too long.”

“The nearest drugstore is 10 minutes from here,” Eirtáe pointed out. “You can go and come back while we finish her hair and makeup and she can do the test before putting on the dress.”

“Come on… really?” Dormé whined.

“We need to know now,” Sabé shrugged.

“No, we don’t,” Padmé insisted.

“But there’s wine at the wedding! Do you really want to risk it?”

“I will go bridezilla on all of you if you don’t let this go right now.”

“It’s fine, I’ll ask Rex to drive me,” Dormé sighed and turned on her heels to leave.

Eirtáe started working on her lashes. “It can be your wedding gift to your husband.”

“Ugh!” Padmé threw up her hands. “I thought brides were supposed to get their way!”

“You’re a grumpy bride,” Sabé snorted. “You don’t get that.”

“Shut up and help Eirtaé finish my face so I can get in my dress and then make you hold it while I pee.”

“See? Grumpy,” Sabé poked her side. “Also, you’re only putting it on after you pee. Stop rushing us!”

“I’m allowed to be grumpy, I woke up early this morning for meetings!” Padmé huffed. “Meetings that I realize now were about waking me up and getting me out of the house before I could see Anakin.”

“Exactly. Now, if you look grumpy out there, I doubt he will say yes. He might run. Think happy thoughts,” Eirtaé said with a chirpy tone.

“He is  _ not _ going to run.”

“When he sees those worry lines? He will,” Eirtáe huffed, applying concealer.

“Let’s be fair, he didn’t run when you refused to take his name, he’ll be fine,” Sabé snorted.

“After all of this is done, I’m murdering all of you. Or at least firing you. You’re terrible friends.”

The girls just laughed and kept working in silence, while Padmé took a few moments to center herself. Annoying as they were being right now, they were right. This was her wedding day. And she was absolutely going to enjoy it.

* * *

“Okay, everyone, let’s give it up for the newlyweds!”

Everyone stood and started clapping as one of Ahsoka’s upbeat remixes played as Anakin and Padmé entered their reception. Luke and Leia clapped happily beside their grandmothers.

“They’re never going to let us live this down,” Padmé laughed as she leaned in to kiss her new husband on the cheek. “We’re doomed to a lifetime of ‘I told you so’ from both of them.”

“Admit it, if it wasn’t for them, we would never marry,” Anakin chuckled. “Eternal engagement.”

“I’ll admit it to you, but not to them,” she amended as everyone started to take their seats. “But I hope they like watching us dance in a circle like middle schoolers for however long the song they picked for our first dance is.”

“Alright, lovebirds,  _ finally  _ you can get your first dance,” Ahsoka chuckled as she put the song on.  _ Perfect,  _ by Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé started to play around the ballroom and everyone sighed wistfully and the lights dimmed down.

“So,” Padmé placed her hands on Anakin’s shoulders as she began to sway in time to the music. “We need to talk about something.”

With his hands on her lower back, he raised one eyebrow. “How did our moms manage to pull this off behind our backs?”

“No, not that,” she shook her head with a laugh. “While the girls were getting me ready, they reminded me of something I noticed a few days ago. My period’s a little late. They sent Dormé out to get a test, but I didn’t let them be there with me while I took it.”

His step faltered, before he recovered. “Wait… does that mean what I think it means? Are you... ? Are we…?” His baby blues widened at the prospect.

“No,” she shook her head. “I’m not pregnant. Probably just stressed. But,” an impish smile appeared on her lips. “We  _ are _ about to go on a honeymoon. And I would love to change that.”

“Oh,” his shoulders dropped and he pouted. “I actually got excited there,” he nodded and kissed her softly. “I would love to change that too. The twins are old enough to behave and be a good big sister and big brother.”

“I mean, I think they can use another nine months to prepare, but you’re right.”

“I love you,” he kissed the side of her neck. “So much. Even if you’re not a Skywalker,” he teased as he nipped at her neck.

“And I love you even though you’re not a Naberrie,” she countered, spinning under his arm.

He chuckled. “We will be arguing about this until we die, won’t we?”

“Come on, I think we both know there are worse things to argue about.”

“Yes, there are. I can live with this,” he shrugged.

“Well, good. Because you just signed a legally binding document to that effect,” she teased, reaching up to ruffle his hair.

“I think I did that when we had those two rugrats over there,” he laughed. “Today was just a paper.”

“Maybe so, but it’s still nice to have it be entirely official.” She leaned against his chest. “I really do love you, Anakin Skywalker. Even when you’re getting on my last nerve.”

“The feeling is mutual, Padmé Naberrie,” he kissed the top of her head. “My one and only.”

“My everything,” she agreed as the song faded out, and the kids charged at them.

“We wanna dance too!” Leia said eagerly.

Anakin picked her up and set her at his hip. “Do you now? You’re so pretty, little angel,” he kissed her cheek.

“And you’re definitely looking handsome,” Padmé said to Luke as she pulled him up with a little more effort. “Family dance, how does that sound?” she looked at Anakin with a bright smile.

“Yes,” he agreed, grinning.

“Perfect.”


End file.
